Storms Over Colorado
by cwesthawk
Summary: Kim is relaxing for the weekend at a friend's wilderness cabin during a terrible thunderstorm when she gets a most unexpected visitor in the form of her archnemesis, Shego. As a result of that visit, the two decide to go on a road trip, slowly developing their new relationship. -KIGO-
1. Storms Over Colorado

**Note: **This is not part of the TSOD Universe. This is simply a scenario that kept popping into my head while I was listening to thunderstorm CDs at night to help me relax and fall asleep. Like any good writer, I chose to try to get it down on paper.

**Disclaimer:** Kim Possible and all IP as it is presented in the canon animated television series is Copyright and Trademark by the Disney Company, using characters originally created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle. This is a transformative fan fiction work.

**KIM POSSIBLE: STORMS OVER COLORADO**

Kim Possible carefully stoked the fire in the fireplace before setting the fire poker aside and replacing the fire screen. She then stood up and strode over to the nearby couch. She paused at the couch before sitting down. Glancing out through a close-by window, she made a note of the thunderstorm raging outside.

_The rain is coming down really hard tonight_, Kim noted to herself. _I'm glad I'm not out there_.

To be honest, to Kim, the storm was nothing more than a change in atmosphere. After Kim had chased down and captured a pet jaguar that had escaped its owner's estate, doing so before the authorities could find it and kill it, the owner had rewarded Kim with a weekend of her choosing at his private cabin in the Rocky Mountain National Park. After the kind of week she had just had, Kim decided that this weekend would be the perfect weekend to cash in that reward.

She had actually started the "weekend" on Thursday. Thursday and Friday had both offered gorgeous weather. So Kim had spent both days exploring the forest around the cabin and generally taking in the peace and tranquility of the wilderness setting. The whole experience had been very cathartic and Kim had literally felt the stress melt off of her body.

But a nasty storm front had rolled in from the northwest and now the whole area was under a severe thunderstorm and flash flood warning through most of Saturday and much of Sunday morning. Kim had decided to not let that diminish her weekend. She had plenty of firewood and plenty of food stores. The cabin itself was spacious and gorgeous. Just the living room alone, with its giant fireplace, bearskin rug, and comfortable couch, was romantic beyond description.

Now, with a storm raging outside, Kim intended to curl up with a good book in front of a warm fire with a hot drink. Kim couldn't think of a better way to spend the evening. She was already in a flannel gown that covered her body down to the middle of her thighs, ready for relaxation.

As Kim started to sit down on the couch, she was startled back to her feet by a sudden rapping at the front door. Kim paused and looked at the door incredulously.

_Who would be out in the middle of the wilderness in this storm? _Kim started to think before she berated herself. _Wait, it's probably another camper who found himself caught out in the storm. He's going to need help. And that's what I do. I help people._

Kim ran to the bathroom and grabbed a large towel before running to the door. The rapping at the door became more insistent as she approached the door.

"Hold on," Kim called, getting the towel ready in one hand and reaching for the door with the other hand. "I'm coming."

Kim opened the door to greet to poor soul who was on the other side. She was caught completely by surprise by the emerald eyes staring in disbelief back at her.

"Aw, crap," the beautiful woman at the door muttered under her breath. Her pale green skin had beads of rain dripping from it. Her raven black hair, which Kim knew from experience was normally long and luxurious, was still long but soaking wet and flat against the woman's scalp. The black and green catsuit that the woman was wearing was drenched as well.

"Shego?" Kim breathed, staring back at her arch-nemesis in equal disbelief. But it took only a split second for the redheaded hero to process that Shego was not in a fighting stance and was in a miserable state. "Get inside. You're soaked and you don't need to be catching a cold."

Kim stepped aside to allow the villain in through the doorway. Shego paused for a moment and considered the redhead carefully before accepting the invitation and stepping inside.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Kimmie," Shego muttered as she accepted the towel from Kim. "The storm hit so suddenly and I didn't know this was your cabin..."

"It's okay, Shego," Kim explained. "Things happen. We're both kinda off of the clock, so I'm not going to kick you out just for being here. You needed shelter, I'm here to give it. It's what I do."

Shego nodded. "Well, um, technically, I'm not off of the clock. I'm supposed to be on my way to Fort Collins to steal some phase-shifting rifle or something or another. But the hovercar broke down at the bottom of the mountain. Then the storm hit."

"Normally, I'd needle you about why you need to steal an experimental weapon," Kim replied as she stepped into the open kitchen area just off of the living room. "But I'm off of the clock and now I'm declaring that you are too. If you're telling the truth and your hovercar really is broken down, I won't be able to get down to it to have Wade scan it for damage until the storm passes over. So now you're my guest. Care for something hot to drink?"

Shego breathed in a sigh of relief before looking at Kim. "Yes, please."

"Did you need a change of clothes, too? I think I remember those catsuits being water repellent, but you'd probably still appreciate getting into something warm and dry. I think I have a black or green nightgown you can borrow."

Shego nodded, rubbing herself down thoroughly with the towel so as not to drip water all over Kim's floor. "Yeah, I probably should do that. And..." She then paused to see the mix of bottles that Kim had brought out onto the kitchen counter. "Bailey's?"

Kim smiled and nodded as she looked up at Shego. "I'm not much of a drinker, since I'm technically not old enough to drink legally. But the owner keeps this place well stocked. And I'm not averse to spiking my Coco-Moo with some Bailey's. It tastes really good, in fact."

Shego smiled wickedly. "It certainly does. Okay, Pumpkin, you just impressed me a little bit. That's a little factoid I didn't think I'd ever learn about you."

Kim stepped around the counter and handed Shego a piping hot mug of Coco-Moo. "Then again, from the look on your face when I opened the door, you weren't expecting it to be me in here, either."

"Doy," Shego laughed, taking a sip of the Coco-Moo and luxuriating in the hint of Irish Creme liqueur in it. "I honestly thought you'd still be in Middleton and that I'd have an hour or so in Fort Collins before having to deal with you."

As Shego spoke, Kim stepped around a corner down a hallway that Shego assumed led to a bedroom. Kim returned with a black flannel nightgown in her hand. She held up to show Shego. On the chest, a devilish looking black cat with a body of a large waffle and a grayscale rainbow spitting out of its behind grinned evilly at the observer. The letters underneath the picture confounded the villainess.

"What is a Tacnayn?" Shego asked carefully.

"It's the arch-nemesis of the Nyancat," Kim explained. "The Nyancat is a little toaster pastry cat that flies along, spitting rainbows out of its butt and moving to the beat of an impossibly annoying Japanese tune with nothing but cat meows as its lyrics. It was a popular Internet meme for a while a couple of years ago. Then, someone brilliant concocted the Tacnayn in response. It's a kickbutt little waffle kitty that flies along through a field of skulls to the beat of a electronic heavy metal tune."

"And you got the nightgown with the kickbutt kitty on it rather than the one with the annoying toaster tart kitty?" Shego asked, almost laughing. "Kimmie, were you _expecting _me or something?"

Kim chuckled on that. "I may like cute and cuddly things, Shego, but I have my edgier side, too."

"Maybe I need to explore that more," Shego purred with a wicked grin.

"Hah!" Kim laughed, handing the gown to Shego. "Go ahead and change into it. I'll take your mug and put it on the coffee table. The bathroom is the first door on the left. Feel free to hang you catsuit up over the tub so it can dry."

"Thanks, Pumpkin," Shego smiled, stepping into the proffered bathroom.

Kim took Shego's mug and set it on the coffee table before returning to the kitchen to make her own drink. She had intended to simply drink hot tea tonight, but after making Shego's drink, Kim decided she wanted a little bit of Irish Creme liqueur herself.

She finished preparing her drink just as Shego emerged from the bathroom. Shego had availed herself of another towel to wrap her hair in, which Kim didn't mind. But the way that the black nightgown flowed over Shego's body caught Kim's attention. Somehow, seeing Shego in normal clothes was profoundly different than seeing her in a skin-hugging catsuit.

Shego stepped over to the couch, picked up her drink, and sat gingerly onto one end of the sofa.

Shego noticed Kim's book sitting on the coffee table and took an interest in it just as Kim approached the couch with her own drink. "The Eventide Saga? Kimmie, I didn't know you were into teen vampire angst stories."

"Well, given what I do for a living, it's hard to find a story that is fantastic enough to help me escape reality for a few hours. The Eventide Saga helps me do that. I'm on Book 6 now." Kim sat down on the couch, on the opposite end from Shego.

"I actually prefer the Bayou Blood series myself," Shego commented, leaning back and sipping her drink thoughtfully. "It has more adult characters, better action, and more realistic drama, if you ask me."

Kim nodded. "I just couldn't get into the sexual tension between the Rogue Mistress and the Vampire Thief. At least in the Eventide Saga, Ruby Dawn is dealing with school issues, boy issues, and the growing threat of the werewolf clans on top of her vampire nature."

"You _would_ prefer that sort of stuff," Shego chuckled, smirking playfully at the redhead. "But I get what you're saying about Marianne and Remi. They don't finally admit their feelings for each other until sometime in Book 8. I was in the middle of Book 3 screaming at the two of them to just get a freakin' room and do it already."

Kim laughed at that. "Yeah, Ruby and Drake know from the beginning that they're in love with each other. They just don't think they can do anything about it, seeing as Ruby's a vampire and Drake's a werewolf. So I have that advantage in my books over yours."

Shego snorted. "There's no advantage or disadvantage between the two series. We just have different tastes in vampire romance stories, that's all."

"Good point," Kim admitted, taking a long sip of her drink.

Shego considered the redhead carefully. "Kimmie, did you spike your drink, too?"

Kim paused in mid sip and looked at Shego like a deer in headlights. The blush that was forming over Kim's cheeks told Shego everything she wanted to know. "Um, yeah?"

Shego laughed softly. "Tonight is going to be fun."

"How so?"

"Pumpkin, normally when we meet, we're on opposite sides of the law. We're both wound up tighter than a dreidel at a Hanukkah celebration. Tonight, we're sitting on the same sofa, sipping alcohol, and bantering about vampire stories. Honestly, I'm enjoying the change of pace."

"Me, too," Kim nodded. "Although, um, I'd like to avoid Jewish references for right now, please and thank you."

Shego stopped in mid sip to consider the redhead after she spoke that last part. Shego couldn't tell if Kim was being bitter, remorseful, or sad. Shego started to ask about what she meant, but something hit her brain and told her it would be more tactful to not say anything just yet.

The buffoon was Jewish, after all. And the buffoon wasn't here.

"What other vampire stories do you enjoy?" Shego asked, changing the subject.

"Um," Kim muttered, thinking carefully. Her blush deepened.

"Kimmie?"

"I like Zenobia Renquist's works," Kim finally muttered softly.

Shego's eyes went wide for a split second before she smiled. "Really? I do too."

Kim blinked for a moment before looking over at Shego. "What? No sarcastic joke? No witty dig into my character? No teasing?"

"Trust me, Kimmie," Shego smiled. "I've got a million and one things to say about you reading vampire erotica. Half of them are not conducive to me staying in a warm, dry cabin in the middle of a raging thunderstorm. Besides, I really do read them, too. I beat off to them, as a matter of fact."

"SHEGO!" Kim gasped before she saw the knowing smirk on the villainess's face.

The both of them broke down laughing at that point.

"So, is Renquist the only vampire erotica author you read?" Shego asked after she finished laughing.

"The only one I've had a chance to read," Kim admitted. "I feel so dirty checking them out from the library, but they've become something of a sinful pleasure for me. Especially since..." Kim paused for a moment before continuing. "Well, I've enjoyed them for a while now."

Shego nodded. Again, a subtle clue to something that was now tearing at her curiosity. But it was still best to wait a little bit longer. "Pumpkin, you really should also read Tawny Taylor's works, too. Those'll really get your engine running, trust me."

"I've heard of her," Kim admitted. "But I've not really seen any of her books around."

"I have over twenty of her books. Come break into Doc's lair sometime and I'll let you borrow a couple."

A clap of thunder roared outside just before the rain started pouring down harder onto the rooftop.

"Wow," Shego muttered, looking about the room. "And I thought it was raining hard before."

"Yeah, there's a flash flood warning for the area for the next twelve hours," Kim admitted. "Thankfully, this cabin is higher up, so we probably won't get hit by any flooding."

"That's good," Shego agreed. "Though that doesn't bode well for my hovercar. Doctor D's probably going to have to replace it."

Kim bit her bottom lip softly as she considered Shego. "Um, did you _need_ to call Drakken and let him know what's going on?"

"Heck no!" Shego snapped suddenly and angrily, before recovering herself. She looked at the redhead apologetically. "Um, sorry, Cupcake. That was uncalled for on my part. I'm just... Doctor D and I aren't exactly getting along right now. After the Lowardian Invasion, we tried exploring our feelings for each other. But he's too ADD and monomaniacal while I'm too petty and self-centered. We wound up hating each other worse than ever before. I was kinda glad when he ordered me out of the lair. I planned on dragging the assignment out for as long as I could." Shego then turned her head sadly. "He's probably going to kill me for wrecking the hovercar, now."

"Not if I can get Wade to fix it for you," Kim said, softly, reassuringly. "Did you need a place to get away so things can cool down between you and Drakken?"

Shego sighed and looked back up at Kim. "Thanks, Pumpkin, but I should be fine. I mean, Doctor D and I have been at each other's throats for over four years. Why should it be any different now?"

Kim opened her mouth to say something, but thought the better of it. She leaned back and sipped her drink again. Finally, she steeled up her courage and took a different tact. "Um, the reason I asked you not to make Jewish references earlier is because Ron and I are kinda on the outs, too."

Shego blinked and gazed at Kim in bewilderment. "What? You and the buffoon broke up? But you two were doing so well."

"It's my fault, really," Kim sighed. "I expected too much from him. I've always been an overachiever. You know that already. Ron's something of a slacker. His natural 'Ron Factor' seemed to always carry the day for him with random bits of good luck. But I kept judging him for all of his faults. Getting onto him for doing things his way rather than my way. It got to be too much for him."

"Kimmie," Shego breathed, scooting closer to Kim. "I'm sorry..."

Kim shook her head. "Don't be. I brought it on myself. The stupid part is that I never saw it until Ron told me that he'd accepted a scholarship to a prestigious culinary university in Japan."

"Well, I remember him being something of a good cook," Shego admitted. She didn't like much about her time as Miss Go at the Possible's house. But the night that Ron had cooked was a night she wasn't going to soon forget.

Kim sighed. "Yeah, he's one of the best cooks I know. He could've gotten into just about any culinary school in the world. But he chose the one in Japan."

Something in Kim's tone struck Shego. "There's a girl in Japan, isn't there?"

"Her name is Yori," Kim admitted. "Ron met her in our sophomore year when he went to Japan as an exchange student. She's actually a ninja. Her school is where Ron got his Mystical Monkey Powers."

"The blue glow that let him throw the Lowardians up into their mothership?" Shego asked.

"Yeah, that," Kim nodded. "And Yori's always had a shine for Ron since they first met. She accepts him for who he is. Even compliments him for his goofiness and his American sense of humor. The very things that I kept riding Ron about."

Shego didn't respond. She simply listened attentively to the hero.

"Shego, I drove my best friend since Pre-K out of the country," Kim said, her voice starting to crack under the strain of her emotion. "And I did it by using him as a rebound after I lost Eric on my junior prom night."

"Crap," Shego muttered, tensing up. "Kimmie, I never got a chance to apologize for that night. I..."

"No, Shego," Kim replied, suddenly grabbing Shego's hands and looking at Shego's emerald eyes with her own olive eyes. Tears were welling up in Kim's eyes. "Don't. Wade did some checking up on things after the whole Diablo thing was over. Drakken didn't tell you anything about his plans until it was too late. I don't blame you anymore. I never should have."

"You didn't know that I didn't know, Kimmie," Shego said, looking down instead of facing the intensity in Kim's eyes. "At first, I hated you for claiming that you hated me. But I eventually got over it after I thought about it and realized I'd've been just as pissed if someone had jacked with my heart like that."

"Well, Drakken _did_ jack with my heart like that," Kim growled. She then closed her eyes and sighed. "Then I used Ron to basically force the healing process. I took advantage of our friendship and his feelings for me. He deserves someone better than that. Someone like Yori."

Shego shook her head before squeezing Kim's hands softly. "Maybe so, Princess. But it's not because you're a bad person. It's just that you two weren't compatible. Do you and the buffoon still stay in touch?"

Kim nodded. "Yeah, we write to each other whenever we can. Pretty often, in fact. Yay, email, right? But Ron's letters are always so full of his adventures in Japan, his accomplishments at school, and how things are going with Yori. Me, all I can talk about is..."

"The latest mission," Shego finished for the redhead.

"Yeah," Kim sighed.

"Listen, Kimmie," Shego said, lifting Kim's chin gently so that their eyes met again. "I do need to get away from Drewbie for a while. We argue and fight like we've been married for fifty years now. If we try to stick around each other for much longer, we'll probably going to kill each other. So how about I swing by sometime, pick you up, and you and me can go on a road trip. Make our own memories."

"You... and me?" Kim asked, confused.

"Why not?" Shego shrugged. "I mean, we're two peas in a pod, you and I. We both like a lot of the same things, we're both overachievers, especially in matters of superspy stealth and martial arts. We both like dangerous adventures. We'd have a freakin' blast!"

"But," Kim started to say, but stopped. Her stomach was starting to feel tight, as was her chest.

"But what, Kimmie?" Shego asked.

"We're... I mean, nevermind, it's meaningless."

"What is?" Shego asked carefully.

"Um, the... the fact that we're hero and villain."

Shego chuckled. "I don't see either of us clocking in at our respective jobs if we're on a road trip just enjoying what the world has to offer."

"That's true."

"You probably _will_ have to swallow the fact that I'm paying for everything with funds that I earned while pursuing my choice of occupation," Shego admitted, smirking. "I'll leave that up to you to decide how."

Kim nodded. "At this point, part of me doesn't want to care. I mean, it's already yours, so there's not much we can do about it. And the idea of just getting away for a while is really, _really_ appealing."

"Then, we'll call it a date. A month-long date. How does that sound?"

"I...," Kim muttered, staring into Shego's eyes. Her heart skipped a beat. "I would love that."

Shego noticed something about the way Kim's eyes were looking at hers. "Um, Kimmie, are you okay?"

Kim blinked and rubbed her eyes suddenly, letting go of Shego's hands in the process. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. My mind was elsewhere."

"I bet," Shego smirked. She didn't move from her close proximity to Kim.

"I...," Kim started to mumble, but then something occurred to her. "Um, Shego? When you were under the effects of Electonique's attitudinator, you said there was something you couldn't tell me while you were evil. What was that?"

"That Doctor D needed me?" Shego replied, shrugging.

"Seriously, Shego," Kim smirked. She remembered that day. Shego was about to make that confession when Ron accidentally turned Shego back to being evil. Drakken then showed up almost immediately, loudly proclaiming that he needed Shego.

Shego sighed and turned her head way. "I don't know if I'm ready for that confession, Kimmie."

Kim nodded. "Well, right now, I'm going through some emotions of my own that are leaving me really confused. And I don't want to scare you off with them."

Shego cocked her head and looked back at Kim. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Kim said, bracing herself. "They're not... _normal_. Plus, considering what happened with Ron and I, I'm scared of treating anyone else as a rebound."

"Wait," Shego said, looking at Kim and piecing the clues together. "You... _like_ me?"

Kim tensed up and shrank back against the arm of the sofa behind her. "I don't know why, because I like guys and I know you like guys, too, especially big beefy men with lots of money. But... yeah. And that scares me. A lot."

Shego's face went neutral for a moment. "Well, it _should_ scare you."

Kim bit her bottom lip and looked up at Shego like a scared rabbit. Had she said too much too fast?

Then Shego flashed a crooked grin. "Because I'm not an easy woman to keep up with."

Kim blinked for a few moments.

"Kimmie," Shego sighed before smiling softly at the hero. "Truth is, I kinda like you too. I'm not quite sure how, but I do. That's what I was going to say before Ron zapped me. I don't know if it's romantically or not. But I really enjoyed spending time with you. I hated being Miss Go, since that was a forced personality that ran counter to everything I was. But when we're not fighting against each other, we really click."

"Yeah, we do," Kim nodded.

"I tell you what, Pumpkin," Shego said, looking a the hero. "We both have a lot of baggage right now. So it could just as easily go south as turn out good. But I'm open to a trial run. Kinda explore the idea while we're on our road trip."

"Really?" Kim asked, incredulously.

"Really," Shego smiled. "Yeah, we're both relatively straight, but you can't deny the attraction here. I mean, you've been checking me out in this nightgown all evening..."

"I'm sorry," Kim muttered, turning her face aside as she blushed ferociously.

"Don't be," Shego smirked. "I have a rockin' body and I know it. And, the truth is, you're really cute. And knowing that we have so much in common even when we're not having our personalities jacked with kinda says something to me. I say we should go for it. I mean, I might be better for you than Ron on the 'keeping up with you' department. And you sure as hell are better for me than Drewbie ever will be."

Kim couldn't help but chuckle at that, despite how inappropriate the laugh might have been at that moment.

"So, yeah, why not?" Shego continued. "Right now, let's not make any promises or any commitments. But let's at least open ourselves up to the idea. Who knows. We might actually be happy in the end."

Kim smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

"Just one thing, though."

"What's that, Shego?"

Shego glanced down at her empty mug on the coffee table. "Can I have some more Coco-Moo with Bailey's? That stuff tasted good."

Kim laughed at that. "Yeah, Shego, I think I can arrange that. Maybe with a little bit more Bailey's this time. I say the moment calls for it."

As Kim stood up and collected their mugs, Shego smirked devilishly at the redhead.

"Please and thank you," Shego chuckled, sending Kim into fit of laughter as she strode into the kitchen area to prepare fresh drinks.

Outside, the thunderstorm continued to rage. The raindrops on the rooftop provided a cadence for the evening, but not much else. Inside the cabin, it was warm. And not just because of the fireplace.

**[END STORMS OVER COLORADO]**


	2. Dark Revelations

**SOC ROAD TRIP: DARK REVELATIONS**

"So, girlfriend, you need to decide," said the voice of Kim Possible's best female friend, Monique. The two of them were holding a conversation over the phone, although Kim's 'phone' was really her wrist Kimmunicator. "Are you going with the white one or the black one?"

Kim pondered the question a moment while flipping out a t-shirt in front of her. Kim and her mother, Anne, were in Kim's bedroom packing a couple of pieces of luggage. Three suitcases lay open on Kim's bed while Kim and Anne were sorting through clothes.

"I can't really decide whether I want to be naughty or nice," Kim finally laughed. "Tell ya what, Mo'. Buy both. You've got Wade's card and my share of the expense account is good for it. Then I can try 'em both on and decide."

"Fair enough," Monique's voice replied. "I'll grab 'em and BRT... be right there."

"Please and thank you," Kim smiled. "Love ya, Mo'!"

"Love ya too, Kim," Monique's voice laughed softly. "See ya in thirty."

With that, Kim cut the call and turned her full focus on the task at hand.

Trying to decide which clothes to take with her.

"You must be very excited, Kimmie," Anne said, smiling softly at her daughter. The elder Possible redhead considered her now 19 year old daughter with a combination of pride, envy, and fear.

"If you only knew the half of it, Mom," Kim replied. "For the last year, I've been stuck in a rut of one mission after another. This road trip is going to help me break out of that rut and help me find myself again."

"Sometimes something like that is needed," Anne agreed, pulling a heavy shirt out of Kim's closet. "You know, sweetie, you really should be focusing on winter clothes. You're going to be gone for several months and those months are going to be in the winter months."

"True," Kim nodded, accepting the shirt from her mother. "Thankfully, we already put most of the summer clothes into storage."

"That does make things easier," Anne said, turning back to Kim's closet. "So, is Monique the one you're going on this road trip with?"

"Naw," Kim replied, shaking her head. "She's got her job as manager of the Club Banana here in town to deal with, not to mention college work for fashion design."

"Then, who is...?" Anne started to ask.

Anne was interrupted by the familiar chirping of Kim's wrist Kimmunicator. Kim quickly held up her wrist and answered the call.

"Hey, Wade! What's the sitch?"

"Hey, Kim!" came the voice of Kim's webmaster, gadget designer, and resident genius, 14 year old Wade Load. "I've, um, got a call for you."

"From someone going through the website?" Kim asked, raising a brow. Wade sounded nervous and that never sat well with Kim. "You _did_ post on the website that I was going to be gone for a few months, right?"

"Yeah, I did," Wade replied. "But, um, I kinda chose to make an exception for this caller."

Kim nodded and sighed. "Okay, patch 'em through."

"You got it," Wade said.

Wade's image disappeared and was replaced with that of another person. Kim saw the face and smiled.

"Hey, Cupcake," the person said.

Kim's smile softened a little. The voice had sounded controlled... almost defeated. "Hey, Shego. What's up?"

"Shego?" Anne started to ask, before Kim shot her a look that promised answers later.

"I, um," Shego started to say, scratching the back of her head. "Listen, Kimmie, I'm not good at this sort of thing. But... but I need your help. What's your address?"

Anne's eyes went wide upon hearing that. Before she could say anything, Kim responded to Shego.

"Sure," Kim said, obvious concern on her voice. "No big at all. You don't remember where it is from when you stayed with us?"

"My mind's still scrambled from that attitudinator," Shego sighed. "Otherwise, I'd already be tapping at your bedroom window."

"Fair enough," Kim nodded as she paced across the floor of her room and sat down on the edge of her bed. "Hey, Wade, you still there?"

Shego's image on the Kimmunicator screen shifted to the left slightly, making room for Wade's image on the right side.

"Right here, Kim," Wade said.

"Send Shego my address, please and thank you?"

"You're making the geek do it?" Shego asked incredulously.

"Kim knows I can send you the address _and_ full directions, with a map, from your current location within a matter of seconds," Wade explained, visibly typing at his keyboard. "Better than anything Google or Yahoo can give you."

"Touche," Shego replied. Then her eyes went wide. "Oh! Okay! I'm not even ten minutes out. Thanks, Poindexter. Okay, Kimmie, I'll see you in ten."

"Seeya, Shego," Kim said, before cutting the connection with the verdent-skinned beauty.

Before Kim could cut the call with Wade, the boy genius spoke. "Kim, I'm not so sure that was such a good idea."

"Neither do I," Anne stated, folding her arms in front of her daughter. "Even with Shego's pardon, she's still has a past as a violent criminal."

"Your mom was in the room when you did that?" Wade asked, his eyes widening. "Bold!"

"Haha!" Kim chuckled sardonically. "Listen, I know what you guys are thinking. I can't blame you. But trust me on this. I wasn't supposed to meet her until tomorrow, so if she's coming to me _now_, that means something's happened. She needs help. And that's what we do. We help people."

Anne's eyes considered Kim queerly. "You were meeting up with Shego tomorrow? For what? And I thought you were leaving for your road trip tomorrow?"

Kim simply looked up at her mother, a soft, plaintive look on her face.

"Oh," Anne breathed, suddenly connecting the dots in her mind.

Before Anne could say anything more, the front door flew open downstairs and a familiar voice rang through the house.

"MR. AND MRS. DR. P! I'M HOME!"

"Ron!" Kim squealed as she dropped the shirt in her hand and bolted out of her bedroom door.

"Ron's home from college?" Anne asked, more to herself than anyone else. "I didn't know he was going to be in town."

Kim bolted down the hallway and hit the top of the stairs. Looking down, the redhead saw Ron, posing dramatically at the bottom of the stairs. The blond young man was wearing his traditional cargo pants and jersey over a long sleeve shirt. His naked mole rat and constant companion, Rufus, mocked the dramatic pose while perched on Ron's shoulder.

Kim flew down the stairs, skipping three or four steps at a time, before glomping Ron in a tremendous tackle that would have toppled a lesser man. A brief flash of blue energy, however, announced how Ron reflexively called upon his Mystical Monkey Powers to steady himself and accept Kim's tackle. Kim and Ron stood there for several minutes, just holding their embrace, while Rufus snuggled in between the two heroes' necks.

"Oh, my God, Ron," Kim muttered as she held her best friend tightly. "I've missed you so much. I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry for everything."

"KP, it's okay," Ron laughed, patting Kim's back. "We sorted it all out a couple of months ago, right?"

"I still miss you," Kim reiterated. "I kick myself in the pants every night for treating you like I did and driving you into moving to Japan."

"Puh-lease!" Ron said, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, I grew weak and ran. So not my best 'manly-man' moment. But the _Cordon Bleu_ over there has helped me take my cooking to another level. And we're back to being bestest friends, right?"

Kim stepped back and smiled softly, holding up her right pinkie finger in a hook-like position. "Bestest friends forever."

"From now until the day we die," Ron smiled in return, hooking his right pinkie fighter with Kim's.

"Did I not tell you that Kim-san would forgive you, Ron-kun?" asked a pleasant, feminine voice from behind Ron.

Kim looked around Ron and saw Yori, Ron's current girlfriend. The three of them went back almost four years, since the first time Ron visited Japan as an exchange student. Yori was also a ninja. Her ninja school, located in Yamanouchi, Japan, had taught Ron how to be a better fighter and how to better channel the Mystical Monkey Powers with which he found himself gifted. Yori was also the only other girl that Kim would ever approve of Ron dating.

Kim smiled at the beautiful Japanese girl. "Yori! You're here to visit, too?"

"It is my honor to accompany the Mystical Monkey Master in his sojourn to his hometown," Yori replied. "There is still so much about him that I do not know. I wish to learn all that I can, so that I may be a better friend and a better lover."

Kim stepped around Ron and drew Yori into an embrace of their own. "Yori, you are already one of the best friends anyone could ask for. After what happened between Ron and I, I'm glad he turned to you rather than someone like... like Bonnie or something."

"Bonnie!" Rufus squeaked, his voice fighting a gag reflex. "Yuck!"

Yori cocked a brow to that. "Is this... Bonnie... someone with whom I should show concern?"

"No!" Both Kim and Ron gasped.

Kim recovered more quickly. "Let's just say that you're the best woman for Ron, so far as a woman being a woman is concerned. I'm happy for the two of you."

"Coming from you, Kim-san," Yori said, bowing respectfully, "I find those words to be a tremendous honor to have been bestowed upon me. I thank you."

"No big," Kim smiled. "You have no idea how much it means to me that you two are visiting, especially today."

"Well, KP, my bestest friend forever is going on a road trip starting tomorrow," Ron explained. "And tonight is our annual trip to the Godeaux Family Haunted Mansion. It'll be the last chance for us to hang out for a while. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Neither would I," Yori chimed in.

"Me three!" Rufus chirped.

Kim gushed slightly in front of her friends. "What would my life be without you guys?"

"Most likely calm and serene," Yori laughed.

"And booooooooring!" Ron added dramatically. Rufus mocked a fainting pose on Ron's shoulder for emphasis.

"Most likely," Kim laughed.

The doorbell suddenly rang at that point.

"I'll get it!" Ron said, spinning around and heading to the front door.

"Ron!" Kim said, trying to reach for the blond man. "I don't think that's such a good..."

But it was too late. Ron had already rounded the corner to the foyer.

Yori turned and looked at Kim curiously. Kim simply sighed.

"Disaster in 3... 2... 1...," Kim muttered, counting down on her fingers dramatically.

"Welcome to the Possible Residence," Ron's voice filtered back into the stairwell. "How may I... GYAH! EVIL FIERY HANDS OF DEATH!"

"Well, hello to you too, Sidekick," Shego's voice filtered back in response. "I love you too."

Ron came scrambling back into the stairwell area, sans Rufus, nearly tripping over his own feet in his rush. "KP! TROUBLE!"

Kim simply shook her head and pushed her way past Ron and into the foyer.

The sight that greeted Kim was nothing less than amusing. Shego stood in the doorway, wearing a soft green turtleneck sweater and black jeans, smiling bemusedly down on Rufus. The naked mole rat stood defiantly in front of the green woman, glaring up at Shego as if _daring_ her to step a foot in the house. _Daring her!_

"Hey, Shego," Kim giggled. "Sorry about that. Ron doesn't know yet. Hey, Rufus, can Shego come in? Please and thank you?"

Rufus glanced back at Kim as if the redhead had just fallen off of the short bus. Once he saw how serious yet how at ease Kim was, he relented and skittered aside to let Shego through the doorway.

Shego shook her head mirthfully and stepped inside. "So, who all _does_ know?"

"Um," Kim mumbled brilliantly. "I think my mom figured it out after our call a little bit ago."

Shego laughed. "Can't say that I blame you. I _was_ one of the most wanted criminals in the world before my pardon, after all. Shall we go break the ice, then?"

"Yeah," Kim smiled, motioning Shego through to the family room.

"Kimmie? Is that Shego?" came Anne's voice from upstairs.

"Yes, Dr. Possible," Shego called back. "It's me."

"Wait a minute," Ron said, striding into the family room with Yori at his side. "You just _let_ Shego into the house?"

"Yes, Ron, I did," Kim sighed. "Listen, I owe you an apology for not saying anything before now. I owe all of you an apology, especially Shego. You see, Shego is the person I'm going on the road trip with."

"Say what? Ow!" Ron asked, just before he was jabbed in the ribs by Yori's elbow.

Yori bowed before Shego. "It is an honor to finally meet you, Shego-san," the Japanese woman stated. "Ron-kun has spoken of you so much. The tales of your prowess in battle, equaled only by the likes of Kim-san, have reached even the most remote communities of Japan."

Shego bowed politely in return. "And you must be Yori. I have to say, you've got your hands full with the sidekick here. I have to give props to anyone who can keep _him_ in line."

"Heh," Ron laughed. "Like _anyone_ could keep _me_ in line."

Rufus cleared his throat on that one. Everyone in the room, including Ron, laughed.

Anne strode quickly into the room, carrying a hot cup of coffee in her hand. "Shego, if I remember correctly, you like your coffee straight black. Or was that a product of the attitudinator?"

"Thank you, Dr. Possible," Shego said, accepting the coffee from Kim's mother. "No, I like black coffee. That didn't change because of the attitudinator. I appreciate this."

"Do you mind telling us what's wrong?" Anne asked gently, concern in her voice.

"Eh?" Shego chirped quizzically, considering the elder redhead carefully before taking a sip of her coffee.

"I, uh, I might have told Mom we weren't supposed to meet until tomorrow," Kim admitted, fidgeting slightly. "And that I was worried that something happened for you to show up early like this."

"Oh," Shego sighed. "Well, if you don't know yet, then... Let me just say you'll probably be getting another phone call here in a little bit."

As if on cue, Kim's Kimmunicator beeped.

"Speak of the devil," Shego laughed, earning quizzical glares from everyone in the room, especially Ron.

Kim answered the call. "Hey, Wade, what's the sitch?"

"I've got a call from Dr. Director for you, Kim," Wade replied tentatively.

Kim glanced up at Shego, who simply shrugged uncommittedly at the redhead. Kim then turned back to Wade.

"Okay, patch her through," Kim said.

Wade's image in the Kimmunicator was replaced by that of a middle-aged woman with short brown hair and an eye patch. The woman looked at Kim with a neutral expression. "Hello, Miss Possible."

"Hello, Dr. Director," Kim replied. "How may I help you today?"

"Is Shego there with you?" Dr. Director asked bluntly.

Kim raised a brow at Shego, who only smirked knowingly at the redhead. Shego then stepped up next to Kim and leaned in to see the Kimmunicator screen. "I'm here, Cyclops. How's tricks?"

"Shego? Are you okay?" Dr. Director asked.

"Sure I'm okay," Shego laughed. "The sun is shining, the cool Autumn air is crisp and clean, and Halloween is tomorrow. That's my favorite holiday. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"An 'anonymous' tip leads my best agent to Dr. Drakken's lair," Dr. Director explained, "We not only find enough evidence for conspiracy to commit terrorism to lock Drakken up for at least a dozen years—we also find Drakken himself welded inside of the Diablo-style mecha suit he obviously built for himself. You are not anywhere to be found. So please forgive me if I'm jumping to conclusions here."

Kim's eyes went wide as she considered Shego. The implications of what Director had just said...

"Drakken wanted to go back to trying to take over the world," Shego mused, shrugging. "I didn't like the idea. So I left. No big."

"Except that we found Drakken trapped inside of a weld-job that can only be done by your plasma flames," Director pointed out. "Now, as I see it, acting to prevent the committing of a crime isn't enough to justify trapping a man inside of what is essentially a coffin without food and water for an period of time that you cannot possibly predict. If I'm forced to charge you with assault and battery, Shego, it will nullify your pardon. Please, help me help you. Give me something."

Shego sighed resignedly.

"Do you need the rest of us to leave the room, Shego?" Anne asked softly. "Obviously, Kimmie has to stay, since her Kimmunicator is still on her wrist. But the rest of us..."

"...should stay," Shego replied softly. "I mean, if I'm going to do what I want to at this point, I need to foster trust with everyone in Kimmie's life. That includes you, buffoon. So you stay too. But don't you dare think any funny thoughts at what I'm about to do. Your lady is standing right there."

Ron shook his head in confusion. "What are you going to do that'll make me think funny...?"

Before Ron could finish his question, Shego pulled her sweater up and over her head. She breathed in sharply in pain as she did so.

Everyone in the room gasped at the sight. As Shego tossed her sweater aside, it was deathly obvious something was wrong. She was wearing a dark green, lacy bra, but it did little to hide the problem. A dark green bruise, almost purplish in color, started at the base of Shego's neck on the right side. It followed the contours of Shego's body down the right side of her torso, expanding out to cover Shego's shoulder, half of her upper arm, much of her right breast, and half of her abdominal muscles, before tapering to just below her waistline.

"Shego...?" Kim breathed, unable to form any further words. She was visibly shaken.

Ron's reaction was much different. His eyes lit up in a blue fury no one in the room had ever seen before. A blue energy began to trickle violently around Ron's body as his muscles tensed up visibly.

"Where... is... he...?" Ron growled angrily. His hollow, reverberating voice evoked a level of menace that unsettled even Shego.

"Um, Betty," Shego said quickly, glancing back to Kim and her Kimmunicator. "You see this bruising? You _might_ want to say something now. The sitch is about to go DEFCON 1 with the sidekick here."

"We have Drakken in our custody, Ronald," Director replied, loud enough to hopefully catch the young man's attention. "He is being appropriately dealt with, I assure you."

Ron began breathing deeply, rhythmically, as Yori stepped up to her lover and caressed his chest gently.

"Shego?" Director continued. "Please answer this one question for me. Was Drakken inside or outside of this mecha suit when you received your injuries?"

Shego took in a deep breath to calm herself, an act that caused obvious pain. "Inside."

"So, we can tag 'Aggravated Assault With A Deadly Weapon' and 'Attempted Murder' onto the list of charges we're filing against Drakken today," Director sighed. "And Shego can be considered to have acted in defense of her life."

Shego nodded solemnly as Anne approached her with her sweater.

"I understand if you tell me to go fly a kite, Shego," Director said. "But unless you are willing to testify against Drakken, we won't be able to make the Assault and Attempted Murder charges stick. Is there any way for me to maintain contact with you?"

"I'm going to be spending the next several months with Kimmie, Betty," Shego said, carefully slipping her sweater back over her head. "Kimmie's nerdlinger will be able to find me, if you need to talk to me."

"Thank you, Shego," Director replied, genuine gratitude in her voice. "I will leave you and the Possibles in peace for now, then. I have a lot of paperwork ahead of me. It don't like that Drakken blew his second chance like this. But I'm glad you didn't, Shego. And I'm glad you're alive."

"Thank you, Betty," Shego breathed.

"Take care all," Betty added, before severing the connection.

Kim lowered her arm and looked at Shego in both shock and sympathy. "Shego..."

"We got into an argument over the road trip, Kimmie," Shego admitted, sitting down on the nearby sofa. "Drakken accused me of betraying him in order to be with you. All I wanted was some time off to sort through my feelings... my feelings for him. But he got angry..."

"My God," Anne breathed. "From what James has told me, Drakken always had problems maintaining emotional stability, but..."

"Ever held an argument with a three-year-old driving a giant robot, Dr. Possible?" Shego growled. She then pointed at her now sweater-covered side.

Anne could only cover her mouth with her hands in response.

"After he attacked me with that robot suit of his, I snapped," Shego continued, keeping her head hung low. "I welded him into the cockpit of the thing, unlocked the security to all of Doctor D's computer files, and left a nice little note that Global Justice could easily find. Then I left and phoned in that 'anonymous' tip."

Kim sat down on the couch next to Shego and began to caress her back reassuringly, careful to not touch Shego on her right side.

"I loved him, Kimmie," Shego sighed, her voice cracking. "Just like you loved... probably still love your sidekick. It hurt so much to do all of that to him..."

"No woman should ever have to endure an abusive relationship for the sake of love," Anne suddenly said, firmly. "I'm a brain surgeon, for crying out loud. And _I _have seen more than one patient who has needed _my_ help because she was victim to an abusive boyfriend or husband. You did the right thing by standing up to Drakken, Shego. No matter how hard it hurt, you did the right thing."

"I know, Dr. Possible," Shego choked. Kim carefully put an arm around Shego, softly caressing the left side of Shego's back. " "And I'm trying my best to see it that way. But, God, it hurt so blasted much to do that to him! Part of me still wants to go break him out of prison. But I know I shouldn't."

"Where did you plan on being tonight, Shego?" Anne asked, gently yet firmly.

"That's the problem," Shego said, steadying herself. "I... I don't have anywhere to go. The lair _was_ my home. I don't have a home of my own. And I don't want to go to my brothers in Go City. Not in the state I'm in."

"You need friends, not people who will chastise you for having been evil," Kim said, understanding Shego's misgivings.

"Exactly," Shego breathed, evoking a bit more venom in her voice than she probably intended.

"And _that_ is why we have a guest bedroom," Anne said. "I'm going to prep that right now. You're staying here, young lady, for as long as you need to."

"Thank you, Dr. Possible," Shego said, still not looking up.

"You're very welcome, Shego," Anne said. "And it's Anne, by the way."

"Thank you, Anne," Shego corrected herself.

Anne turned to leave the family room, but paused to consider Ron. Yori had essentially snuggled up next to him as he stood there, performing breathing exercises and reciting mantras in his mind. Anne placed a gentle hand on Ron's shoulder.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Dr. P.," Ron said, taking another deep breath. "I'm fine."

With that, Anne squeezed Ron's shoulder reassuringly and stepped out of the room.

"Wow, sidekick," Shego said, almost laughing, as she glanced up in Ron's direction. "You're taking this almost as hard as I did. And we don't even like each other."

"That's because my dad raised me up right," Ron growled. "A _real_ man doesn't raise a hand to a lady like that. Not ever. No matter how angry he may get. It's been a pet peeve of mine... ever since I found out why Felix Renton was wheelchair-bound."

"What?" Kim breathed. It was obvious to Shego that this was the first time the redhead had heard that little factoid.

"Yeah," Ron continued grimly. "Let's just say that there's a reason we've never met Felix's father. I almost snapped when I saw what Drakken did to Shego just now. I _would_ have snapped _hardcore _if Shego'd been pregnant when Drakken did it. And there would have been _nothing_ any of you could have done to stop me."

Shego set down her coffee and stood up at that point. She strode across the room and did something no one present would have predicted. She threw her arms around Ron and pulled him into a hug. Yori politely stepped back to allow it to happen, even though her look was as curious as everyone else's.

"Um, okay?" Ron gasped, before carefully placing his arms around Shego.

"Ron," Shego said softly, "You're right. A _real _man would never do anything like that. I'm finding it so deliciously ironic that the only real man I've ever had in my life is my archenemy's pants-dropping goofball of a sidekick."

Ron blinked a couple of times before finally easing into the embrace. He patted Shego's back, careful to pat her on her left side. "I'm just channeling my natural Ron-ness, Shego. Ain't no big."

Shego pulled away and looked at Ron at arms length. "No, Ron, it _is_ big. Kimmie's lucky to have you in her life. She's always known that. Don't you two ever lose touch with each other. Ever."

"Not gonna happen," Ron smirked. "Bestest friends forever. Nothing's changing that."

"Good," Shego said, more firmly this time. "Cause I'd hate to have to hunt you down and use my evil fiery hands of death on you for hurting my Princess."

"Good thing you'll never have to," Ron laughed. "Wait, did you just say...?"

Before Ron could finish his question, the doorbell rang again.

Shego laughed at that. "Welcome to Grand Central Station."

Kim stood up and walked towards the door. "That'll be for me. I'll get it."

As Kim walked past Ron and Shego, she paused to lean up and kiss Shego on the cheek. Shego leaned down to accept the kiss. Kim turned and kissed Ron on the cheek as well. She then strode to the front door.

Ron stared wide-eyed at Shego. "Did KP just...?"

Shego merely smirked smugly at Ron.

"Girlfriend, you should see these outfits!" another girl's voice said from the front door. "The white one is _so_ you. But the black one would make you look _so_ wicked. I..."

Ron and Shego turned to see the girl who was speaking. Kim was walking back into the family room with a beautiful African-American woman in tow. The woman, holding two Club Banana bags in her hands, paused to consider the people in the room.

"Miss Go?" the woman breathed.

"Hi," Shego nodded. "Monique, right? The one who was into fashion design? Good to see you again."

"Um, likewise?" Monique replied. She then leaned in to stage whisper to Kim. "GF, is she on the UNU?"

Kim giggled. "Yes, Mo'. She's on the up and up. And, no, she's not under the influence of an attitudinator, before you ask. It's a long story. The quickest answer... she's my road trip buddy."

"Ohhhh!" Monique responded, nodding dumbly. "Um, sure. Okay. So..., oh, wait! I know. Hey, Miss Go...?"

"Shego," Shego corrected.

"Um, right," Monique mumbled. "Shego, would you like to come with us tonight? We're heading to the Godeaux Family Haunted Mansion for their tour and costume party." Monique then looked down at the bags in her hands and suddenly thrust one of them towards Shego. "We've even got you a costume!"

"That's a great idea!" Kim chirped, looking at Shego like an expectant child. "I was supposed to try on these costumes and chose one. But Mo's right. I'll take the white one and you can take the black one. It'll be perfect."

Shego rose a brow to that. "So, let me get this straight. You're inviting me to my cousins' haunted house party _and _just so happen to have a costume for me to wear?"

"Cousins?" Ron asked. He was obviously suffering from information overload. Both Yori and Rufus moved in to comfort their companion.

"I don't like to advertise it," Shego added quickly. "But, yeah, my real last name is Godeaux, although we usually just use Go for short. The cousins here in Middleton are distant cousins, but cousins nonetheless."

"Then maybe you can tell us the family history as we're taking the tour," Kim smiled.

Shego considered Kim for a moment. The redhead was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, looking very much like a little girl in a toy shop. Shego couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

"More like I'll be telling you what parts of the 'haunted mansion' story are real and fake," Shego laughed. "That way, we can laugh at how silly they're being."

Kim's face darkened into a mischievous grin. "Even better."

At that, Shego accepted the bag that Monique was offering her. "So, Kimmie, what are you going to be for Halloween," Shego asked, teasingly.

"Glinda, The Good Witch of the South," Kim smiled, holding the dress in the bag up to her.

"The Wizard of Oz, huh?" Shego smirked. "Can't say that I don't like the idea. Fits you nicely. So, Glinda and not Locasta?"

"Locasta wore a pink dress," Kim sighed. "Or, at least, the version of her they called Glinda in the MGM movie did."

"Right," Shego nodded. "Someone who knows the difference between Baum's books and Hollywood. I'm loving you already, Pumpkin."

Kim gushed slightly at that.

"So," Shego said, pulling the black dress out of the bag and holding it up to her frame. It was quite obvious that this dress, which was every bit as elaborate as the one that Kim was going to wear, threatened to expose much more skin. Shego hummed appreciatively at that. "Which witch am I going to be? Gingema or Bastinda?"

Kim raised a brow to that one. "Volkov's interpretation of Baum's works? I didn't put that much thought into that one. Honestly, I thought MGM's version of the Wicked Witch of the West was kinda ugly, so I'd rather you go with the East. At least we can _say _she was beautiful before she was killed."

Shego chuckled at that one. "Gingema it is, then."

"I'm going as Carmen Sandiego," Monique smiled. She then turned to Ron and Yori. "Have you two decided what you're going to be?"

"We thought about going as ninjas... Ow!" Ron started to joke, before being playfully jabbed in the ribs again by Yori's elbow.

"After much discourse," Yori smiled, "Ron-kun and I have chosen to go as Spike Spiegal and Faye Valentine, respectively."

"Huh?" Shego asked, looking at the two lovers curiously.

"From an anime show, I'm sure," Kim laughed.

"_Cowboy Bebop_," Ron smiled. "You should watch it. It's good."

Shego, ignorant of the actual nature of the show, pictured in her mind Ron dressed as a dancing ranch hand and chuckled inwardly.

"We'll have to give it a try sometime, then," Kim smiled supportively.

"Well, Princess, shall we go change?" Shego asked, turning to look at Kim.

"Yeah, let's go see how these costumes look," Kim said excitedly, taking Shego's hand and running for the stairs. Shego, laughing, allowed herself to be pulled up the stairs.

"And they're changing clothes together...?" Ron asked, his face somewhat slack.

Monique simply watched her best friend and her archnemesis run up the stairs while Yori and Rufus shook their heads in amused exasperation at Ron.

* * *

Kim and Shego, dressed like two different witches, stumbled out of the doorway and into the grand ball room, laughing hard and leaning into each other. Monique, in a red trench coat and wide-brim red fedora, strode through the doorway, shaking her head mirthfully. Ron, dressed in a blue retro suit, yellow dress shirt, and large black wig, and Yori, dressed in a yellow halter top, yellow booty shorts, and a red overshirt pushed off of her shoulders, stepped out of the doorway—Ron clinging desperately to Yori.

"Oh, my God!" Kim laughed. "I've never been so startled so much in all of my life! They outdid themselves this year!"

Shego smiled as she wrapped her arm around Kim's shoulder. "I bet they pulled in a professional consultant for once this year. I had a lot of fun watching you scream and jump."

Kim paused and smirked at Shego as she rested her head on Shego's shoulder. "You didn't jump once. Kinda made you look like a fuddy-duddy."

Shego chuckeled and shook her head. "Years as a violent criminal, Cupcake," she reminded the redhead. "You tend to sharpen your skills of perception under those circumstances. Not much difference between a loon pretending to be a flesh eating zombie and an assassin taking out a contract on your life when someone jumps out of the shadows at you. Besides, I got my fun watching you, Kimmie. Your expressions were an absolute riot at times."

"I bet they were," Kim giggled. She then sighed happily, walking along with Shego.

Shego considered the now-adult walking beside her. It had only been a month since the two of them had found themselves together at the cabin in the Rocky Mountain National Park, where the two of them waited out a vicious thunderstorm together. It had been a fun weekend and Shego had thoroughly enjoyed herself. It had been strangely liberating to have been able to just sit and spend time with Kimmie in pleasant conversation while _not_ under the influence of an attitudinator. Plus Kimmie played a mean game of Trivial Pursuit.

Now, here they were, all dressed up for Halloween, going through a haunted house attraction and about to attend a costume party. Spending time with each other without throwing punches or trying to stop each other from succeeding. Shego felt almost... relaxed. Relaxed was a feeling Shego hadn't enjoyed for a long time.

"You look deep in thought," Kim's voice suddenly said, piercing through Shego's thoughts.

"Just thinking about how two Wicked Witches of Oz can terrorize the south side of Middleton on the eve of Halloween," Shego replied, smirking darkly at her redhead companion.

"Well," Kim purred, running a finger along the lapel of Shego's blouse. "I know this one route that's well traveled on Halloween. We can set up an ambush and scare all of the little kids..."

"My goodness, Possible!" Shego gasped dramatically. "I never knew you had that much _naughty _in you!"

"I told you I had an edgier side," Kim laughed. "Didn't you say you wanted to explore it?"

"Oh, yes indeed, I did," Shego growled pleasantly, looking at Kim for an minute before the moment was suddenly shattered.

"Shelly?!"

"Uh-oh," Ron's voice filtered through the haze out of which Kim and Shego were trying to pull themselves. "Barkin Alert."

A large, broad-shouldered, jarhead-looking man strode up to Kim and Shego. He was dressed up as an army general—most likely Patton, based on the year of the uniform and the decorations on his chest.

"Steve," Shego replied pleasantly. "Long time no see."

Mr. Barkin, the man who seemed to fill in just about every post in Middleton High School, even though he was technically the principal, nodded briskly. "I didn't know you were back in town. How are you doing?"

"Fair to middlin'," Shego said, shrugging her shoulders and hiding the jolt of pain she felt on her right side fairly well. "Tried the whole having an affair with the boss thing and it didn't really pan out. How's things going at the school?"

"After Miss Possible and her classmates graduated," Barkin began, "half of the staff quit to move on to bigger and better things. Said the challenge just wasn't there anymore. We could use more teachers."

"Maybe next school year," Shego replied. "Right now, I'm about to head out on a road trip with Kimmie here and it could take a few months."

Barkin considered Kim a few moments. Kim simply smiled sweetly back at her former principal/teacher.

"Understandable," Barkin replied simply. "Listen, Shelly, about my behavior a couple of years ago..."

"It happened a couple of years ago," Shego said quickly. "Steve, had that been the real me, things would have been so beautiful. At least until you tried to sing."

Kim chuckled softly at that, earning her a vicious glare from Barkin.

"But that _wasn't_ the real me," Shego continued. "I was under the effects of a weird sort of mind control. And now... now I'm interested in someone else."

Kim certainly did not miss the way that Shego gently squeezed her hand upon saying that. It would have been practically imperceptible to anyone other than Kim, including Barkin. But to Kim... it felt like the world.

"Time has a funny way of changing things, to be certain," Barkin nodded. "Listen, I don't want there to be any bad blood between us. You're a good teacher. The kids loved you... at least, the ones who didn't know you were an international criminal. So don't let the fact that I'm head of the hiring committee hold you back. I'll push your resume through faster than anything."

"Thank you," Shego said. She wasn't sure what else to say.

An awkward moment passed between the three people for several moments before Barkin finally spoke again.

"Well, you enjoy the party, Shelly," Barkin muttered, turning away. "And Possible, you keep Miss Go out of trouble. Middleton High could use a teacher of her qualifications and experience."

"Yes, sir," Kim smirked, snapping a proper standing salute at the gruff man.

Barkin huffed visibly, then strode away.

"Well, that went better than I expected," Shego breathed. "Considering how I tasered him with one of Doc's mad science weapons after he stalked me back to the lair."

"And you've got a job waiting for you after we get back from our road trip," Kim smiled.

"Yeah, I do," Shego said sadly. "I've got so much going for me now. I just hope I didn't give up on..."

"Oh, no you don't," Kim admonished, turning to Shego with a much more serious look on her face. "Look at me, Shego. Don't make me pinch your right side and remind you why it was good that you did what you did."

"I know, Kimmie," Shego sighed, turning her face away from Kim's. "I'm just..."

"I get it, Shego," Kim said, using a finger to lift Shego's chin so that the two of them could meet eye to eye again. "Look, it took me a couple of months to get over Ron. And even then, your situation is far more intense than mine was. And I was lucky to have been able to keep Ron's friendship. So I can't even imagine what you're going through right now. Just understand that I've got your back now."

"We all do," Ron added, reminding Shego that she was not there alone with Kim.

Shego glanced around to see Ron, with Yori on his arm and Rufus on his shoulder, standing next to Monique.

"You're right," Shego nodded. "I do have you guys now. Kinda ironic how my only real friends turn out to be the kids I've been trying to bring the pain to for over four years."

"That's what makes us the good guys, Shego," Monique smiled, crossing her arms.

Shego nodded. "But that encounter with Steve reminded me of something. There are a lot of things in my past. And they're going to keep cropping up on me..."

"I've got an idea for that," Kim said, holding up a finger to the ex-villainess.

Shego rose a brow to Kim as the redhead brought up her wrist Kimmunicator and made a call.

"Hey, Wade," Kim said to the young boy whose image popped up on the wristband video phone. "I... wait, are you in costume in your own bedroom?"

Wade laughed. "You know I hand out candy every year. So, what's the sitch?"

"Got a favor to ask you, Wade," Kim said. "Can the nefarious Cyber-Master hire Shego on as his sidekick?"

Shego gave Kim the queerest of looks at that point.

"Good idea!" Wade smiled. "Does Shego know what you're doing?"

"Not yet," Kim admitted.

"Let me talk to her, then," Wade asked.

"You got it," Kim smiled. She took off her wrist Kimmunicator and handed it to Shego.

"Okay, I'm here, Nerdlinger," Shego said. "What's going on?"

"Well, I keep a front identity in the villain community called the Cyber-Master," Wade explained. "He's actually pulled off some rather nasty cyberhacking jobs, so he's built up quite the reputation."

"Yeah, Drakken's hired him a couple of times," Shego said, looking impressed. "That was _you?_"

"Yep, although I'm technically operating as an undercover consultant for Global Justice while doing Cyber-Master jobs," Wade continued. "So, yeah, a lot of villains want to stay on Cyber-Master's good side. If they find out that you're working for him..."

"Then I won't have every Tom, Dick, and Harry beating down my door trying to get me to work for them," Shego laughed. "Wow, you and Kimmie scare me sometimes."

"Then you probably don't want to know what I can do to Drakken's rap sheet if you gave me the word," Wade grinned.

Shego shook her head. "Let him dig his own grave. He does enough to screw up his life on his own."

"True enough," Wade smiled. "Okay, I'll get to work on spreading the word about Shego's new employer. Oops, I've got trick or treaters at the door. Catch ya later, Shego! Kim!"

"Thanks, Nerdlinger," Shego smiled as Wade's image faded from the screen. Shego then handed the wristband back to Kim.

"Little by little, inch by inch," Kim smiled, accepting the Kimmunicator back from Shego.

"Things get a little bit better," Shego grinned in return. "Thank you, Kimmie." She then turned to the others. "Thanks, guys."

"It is our honor to be of assistance, Shego-san," Yori replied.

"Yeah, it's no big," Ron agreed, waving his hand casually. "I mean, you never made _too much _fun of me when I lost my pants, so it's the least I could do."

"Uh-huh, yep!" Rufus agreed. "Help!"

"Girlfriend," Monique smirked. "Kim likes you a lot. I can see that now. That makes you one of my peeps, whether you like it or not. Anyone messing with you is gonna have to deal with me now."

"All the villains of the world beware," Shego laughed.

"Trust!" Monique agreed with an index finger for emphasis.

"Let's just hope the other shoe doesn't drop," Shego sighed.

"Won't happen if we're barefoot on a beach somewhere," Kim smirked.

Shego chuckled at that.

Suddenly, the music playing through the ball room changed. _Super Psycho Love_, by Simon Curtis, began to filter through the room.

"Come on, Shego," Kim said, pulling on the ex-villainess' hand. "Let's dance."

Shego shook her head in mirth and followed Kim onto the dance floor.

Kim began to move her body to the rhythm of the bass. Moving her arms to balance herself, she swayed her hips in tempo with the music. Her feet stepped to the song's cadence, coaxing the beautiful redhead to turn slowly as she danced. The whole combination had a subtle sensuality to it. Shego was sure that it was unintentional... that Kim was simply feeling the music and moving to it. But the sight of Kim's body moving so perfectly was... intoxicating.

Shego quickly got into the rhythm of Kim's motions, countering them as if by instinct. As Kim's hips moved one direction, Shego's hips moved the opposite direction. If Kim turned a particular direction, Shego turned to flow with that movement. If Kim's arms were downcast, Shego held hers over her head, accentuating her body and her costume. And the connection seemed to work both ways. If Shego wanted to turn a particular way, she simply stepped to begin the motion and Kim automatically compensated and flowed with the motion.

Despite the subject of the song—the man was singing about a lover who was stringing him along despite any real desire for a true relationship—or maybe because of it, the rhythm and bass of the song was perfect for dancing. Just hard enough to make dancing fun and energetic yet just slow enough to truly get an appreciation of the subtle nuances of one's dance partner. Both Kim and Shego felt an energy flow between the two of them that neither had really felt before.

_This feels so right,_ Kim found herself thinking to herself. _It feel so scary, but so right. I never thought I would feel this __for any woman, let alone Shego. But this sense of... connection... I've been craving it. I've been needing it. Now I'm glad that Shego and I connected like we did a month ago._

_To hell with social conventions,_ Shego found herself thinking to herself. _I may prefer mindless pretty boys with loads of money, but maybe this will work out after all. I never thought in a million years that tiny little Possible who could do this to me. Chalk that up to me finally looking on the inside rather than the outside._

Ron, Rufus, Yori, and Monique watched from the wall, admiring how perfectly in sync Kim's and Shego's dance movements seemed to be with each other—how perfectly in sync Kim and Shego themselves seemed to be with each other.

"Wow," was all Monique could say.

"Uh-huh," Rufus agreed.

"Ron-kun," Yori breathed. "I want _that _to be us someday."

"It will be," Ron replied, just as breathlessly. "I promise you, Yori. Someday it will be."

* * *

"I can't believe that bruise healed up overnight," Kim exclaimed as as she loaded her suitcases into the trunk of Shego's black and green luxury convertible. They were just outside of the Possible residence, the morning after the costume party, getting ready to leave.

Kim knew her parents were just inside of the house, watching from the living room window. Kim and Shego had already said their goodbyes to Anne and James... but that didn't mean that Kim didn't want to run back into the house to just hug her parents for just a little while longer.

"I heal up faster than most people," Shego pointed out. "Part and parcel with my comet powers. The boys all heal up faster than normal, too. It's the reason they were able to survive me, what with their idiocy and all that."

"I _like_ the Weegs," Kim pouted as she shut the trunk carefully.

"The Weegs _are_ probably the only ones I _do_ like," Shego admitted. "But, back to _me_. Thanks to my faster healing, you don't need to worry about me being hurt for too long. Something I didn't tell your mom or the sidekick is that I showed up yesterday with three broken ribs."

"You did _what?_" Kim gasped, looking at Shego with wide eyes.

"I think it was three," Shego added casually. "Maybe it was four. But I think I only counted three."

"What the deuce, Shego?" Kim snapped. "You could have seriously _hurt_ yourself! Punctured a lung or something! Bled to death!"

"And," Shego pointed out, "_that_ is why I didn't say anything. Because you would have flipped out over it. All I needed was a good night's rest. The bones have all knitted up and the bruising is gone. I just needed to replenish the reserves afterward."

"Hence why you ate so much at breakfast this morning," Kim nodded, visibly calmer. "And here Mom thought you really liked her cooking."

"I _did_," Shego laughed. "But yeah, I ate so much because I was missing vital nutrients in my system and I needed to get them back. So, Pumpkin, you ready for this road trip?"

"Ready, willing, and able," Kim smirked, sliding into the passenger seat of the convertible.

"Then let's get this show on the road," Shego laughed, dropping into the driver's seat and shutting the door. "Any clue as to where you want to go first?"

"No, not really," Kim admitted, turning to admire her travel companion. "I've only got as far as 'Away From Here' in my head."

Shego smirked and nodded. "Well, then, we're heading south. I've got the perfect place for a first destination."

Kim smiled softly as Shego started the engine to her convertible. Shego was doing a better job of keeping her excitement subdued, but Kim could still see it.

Kim felt that she could see a lot of things in Shego that no one else could see. Things that made the woman special.

This was going to be a great road trip.

**[END DARK REVELATIONS]**


	3. Day Of Remembrance

**SOC ROAD TRIP: DAY OF REMEMBRANCE**

Shego pulled her convertible into the parking lot of the motel. It was quiet, which did not surprise Shego in the slightest. Looking at her watch, Shego noted that it was 2 o'clock in the morning.

_Not bad timing at all, _Shego mused to herself, _seeing as we were in Las Vegas not even twelve hours ago._

Shego found a parking spot easily enough. She pulled into it and stopped the engine. She then tugged absently at the dark green sweater she had donned at the last rest stop, grateful for the foresight she had shown herself when packing winter clothes. Like most people outside of Santa Fe, she had expected the city to be situated in the middle of a desert and be at least comfortably warm. Instead, it was _below freezing_ outside... Shego had put up the top on the convertible not even an hour out of Las Vegas. Even for Shego, who could generate fiery plasma from her skin, temperatures down in the teens were a bit more than an inconvenience. She was grateful for not only her sweater, but the black padded slacks she was wearing and her long, luxurious raven-black hair.

And she wasn't the only person Shego was worried about. Glancing over to the passenger seat, Shego noted with a soft smile the angelic figure asleep there. The figure's long red hair was unkempt and dangled haphazardly across her face as she slept contented against the large pillow propped against the window. The figure was bundled in a fluffy white and pink jacket. Light red jeans and tennis shoes completed the ensemble.

_Kimmie is so peaceful when she is asleep, _Shego thought bemusedly. _Nowhere near as intense as she is when she's awake and ready to go. I wish I could sleep like that. _Shego sighed. _Well, time to get this over with._

Shego stepped out into the brisk Autumn air and quickly shut the door behind her. She then tugged her sweater about herself and skipped quickly across the parking lot to the office. She stepped through the door. The soft tinkling of a metal bell announced her entrance. The office was spartan, with some fake plants, a couple of simple chairs along one wall, and a counter with an open archway beyond it.

An older woman, slightly overweight with gray hair and glasses, stepped through the doorway. "Welcome to Express Stay. How may I... oh, my!"

Shego nodded grimly. _Just roll with the punches,_ she chided herself.

"Aren't... aren't you Shego?" the woman asked, pointing to the ex-villainess. "Kim Possible kept having to send you to prison?"

Shego took a deep breath. "It's okay. Global Justice granted me a pardon for my crimes after the Lowardian Invasion and I've been trying to do right by it since." Shego then held up some cash. "I'm here to give you money, not steal it. I need a room for tonight, please."

The woman nodded dumbly and stumbled to her computer console. "Um, I have... I have a couple of empty rooms. Probably not up to your standards..."

Shego smiled sweetly. "Sweetie, Donald Trump couldn't keep up with my standards. Right now, I'm just looking for warm, dry, and comfortable."

The woman nodded again. "Is... is it just you?"

Shego shook her head. "No, I have one companion."

The woman thought about that for a brief moment. "Then... would you like a king or two fulls?"

Shego started to open her mouth, but she caught herself. For a moment, she glanced back out of the office window and gazed upon her convertible. It wasn't even two weeks since she and Kim had left Middleton for their much vaunted road trip.

_Too soon?_

Shego sighed and nodded her head. She then turned back to the clerk. "Yeah, I'm going to need two fulls."

The woman nervously studied her monitor for a moment. "Well, um, I've... I've got a ground floor room... 108... It... it's right by that convertible over there, in fact."

Shego followed the clerk's fingerpoint and smiled. "That's perfect. I'll take it. How much do I owe you?"

"$54," the woman said, still jittery. "Here is your keycard. Checkout is at 11am."

"Thanks," Shego said, handing the clerk three $20 bills.

The clerk quickly counted out her change. "Five is $59, one is $60. Th... thank you for your business."

Shego picked up the keycard and smiled one final time to the woman. "And thank you for your prompt, professional service," she replied, trying to keep as much of her snarky, sarcastic tone out of her voice as she possibly could.

Shego then left the office and skipped back across to the convertible. Hitting a button on her keychain, she popped the trunk. She scooped up two pieces of luggage then shut the trunk. She strode quickly to the room right in front of the convertible, slid the keycard in and out of the lock quickly, and used one of the suitcases to prop the door open.

Shego returned to the convertible and opened the passenger door. She deftly caught the pillow in one hand and Kim in the other arm. "Come'n, Princess. Time for a real bed."

Shego scooped Kim up into her arms in a cradle position, gently kicked the car door shut behind her, and carried Kim into the motel room. She then pulled the blankets back on the closer bed and set the beautiful redhead down onto the matress. Shego stepped around, gently pulled Kim's tennis shoes off of her feet, then pulled the blankets up over the former teen.

Shego stepped back to consider the redhead a moment. Even while under the blankets, Kim's figure curved gently around the curled-up position that she was in. Her hips sloped gently up above the rest of her body before tapering back down towards her knees. Her rhythmic breathing was soft and tranquil.

_I don't believe this is happening, _Shego laughed inwardly to herself. _I've always __**respected **__Kimmie. I've always wanted to __**beat **__her. But I've never really wanted to __**have **__her. I mean, we both prefer boys. Yet, here we are. And I'm admiring her in her sleep and having second thoughts about ordering full beds. How crazy am I?_

It was over a month and a half since that fateful day. Drakken had just declared that he was going to throw away the Global Justice pardon that allowed him to walk freely on the streets again in order to make another bid at world domination. He just needed an experimental phase-shift rifle that was under development at Fort Collins and he needed Shego to steal it.

Shego had agreed to the assignment, but she had done it for an excuse to leave the lair. She and Drakken had been exploring their feelings for each other, but Drakken's monomania and obsessions were destroying their relationship. Shego cherished the excuse for time to herself. Fate intervened, though. On the way to Fort Collins, going through the Rocky Mountain National Park, her hovercar had broke down at the base of a mountain right before a severe thunderstorm struck.

Shego had found a cabin up the slope of the mountain. It turned out to be occupied by her former nemesis, Kim Possible. Kim, being who she was, invited Shego in despite their history and treated the green-skinned woman as a guest rather than as an enemy. They actually enjoyed their weekend as they waited out the storm.

Kim had also confessed her crush on Shego at that time.

At first, Shego wasn't sure how to take it. Certainly, she maintained a calm exterior at the time, but inside she was roiling mess of emotions. Her relationship with Drakken was going south and she was certainly looking for a safe emotional harbor. She suspected Kim could provide one. But she also wondered if Kim's fascination with her was as innocent and transient as the experimentations of a college age girl. Which Kim was.

Add onto that the fact that Shego preferred well-built men, preferably with lots of money and one had the formula of a _what the deuce_ moment. Kim was as petite as they came... and she was a _girl!_

Scratch that—Kim was a _woman_. Shego had to admit that Kim had grown into quite the woman. Back when Kim was a spunky 15 year old teenager, she was barely a wisp of a girl. Now that Kim was 19 years old, she had filled out quite nicely. Even Shego had to admit that she was sporting some fine features.

And it would feel _so good_ to cuddle up to someone who actually _gave a care!_

Shego was woken from her reverie by a knock on the door. Sighing deeply, Shego stepped up to her suitcase, opened it, and retrieved some papers.

_Time to get this done and over with,_ Shego thought to herself.

Shego walked to the door and carefully opened it an inch. After she was satisfied that the people on the other side of the door were who she had suspected them to be, she opened the door fully.

"Good evening, ma'am," one of the two police officers at the doorway said professionally. "We're sorry for disturbing you, especially at this hour, but we had reports of the presence of a wanted felon."

Shego nodded knowingly. "That would technically be me, officer," she explained, handing the speaking officer, a man, the papers in her hand. "I am Shego. You'll find, though, that I've been granted an international pardon by Global Justice and that all of my papers in that regard are in order."

As the male officer glanced through the papers, his partner, a female officer, spoke. "What is your business in Santa Fe, if I may ask?"

Shego nodded. Since the officers had not indicated that there was a crime under investigation nor was Shego being arrested for any reason, she was not required to answer that question. But she also knew that there would be diplomatic repercussions if she openly refused to answer.

"I'm here to observe Veteran's Day," Shego replied. "I've attended the Parade and the Drum Circle each year since I was a kid. Nothing nefarious here, I promise."

"Well, these papers are most certainly in order, as you promised," the male officer stated, handing the papers back to Shego. "I hope you'll forgive us if we..."

"What's the matter, babe?" came a groggy voice from behind Shego.

Shego turned around to see Kim standing right behind her. Her jacket was now unzipped and had slipped off of one shoulder. The look in Kim's eyes made it painfully clear that she was not quite fully awake yet.

"Just dealing with something I knew I was going to have to deal with, Pumpkin," Shego assured her companion. "It'll be okay."

"Kim Possible?" the female cop gasped. "Frank, that's..."

The male cop nodded briskly as he held up his hand. "I know, Celeste." He then turned his attention to Kim. "Miss Possible, may I ask what your association with Miss Shego here is?"

"There is no crime under investigation and no one is under arrest," Shego growled softly in Kim's direction.

Kim blinked twice at Shego, then looked at the officers in fatigued disbelief. "Then why are we even having this conversation?"

"Individuals have expressed concerns about Miss Shego's presence," the male officer explained. "We are only here to establish that there is indeed no need for alarm."

Kim took a deep breath and smiled as sweetly as she could. "Shego and I are traveling together. We're on a road trip. We're here in... um... are we in Santa Fe now?"

"You bet, Princess," Shego smiled.

"We're here in Santa Fe," Kim continued, refocusing on the officers, "because we want to spend a little bit of money and have a little bit of fun. I assure you that you have no need for concern about either of us."

The female officer nodded. "Well, if she's with you, Miss Possible, then we can certainly rest assured that..."

"Really?" Kim snapped angrily, causing Shego and both officers to jump startled. "You're giving Shego the benefit of the doubt only because I'm here with her?"

"Well, um...," the female officer stammered, clearly embarrassed.

"There is also the papers that Shego has provided," the male officer calmly added. "She has properly proven her pardon given to her by Global Justice. As long as we have that proof and her promise that she will behave herself, we have no further concerns with either of you."

"Oh, okay," Kim mumbled, slightly mollified.

"It's okay, Kimmie," Shego said, resting a hand on Kim's shoulder. Kim responded by stepping into Shego's arm. "There's also the matter of the reputation I've carefully cultivated for the last ten years. _That_ doesn't just disappear just because Betty waved her magic wand over a stack of papers."

"There is most certainly that," the male officer agreed. "But we do also live in a country were a suspect is innocent until proven guilty. So, we definitely appreciate your cooperation on this matter. It will go a long way towards helping us reassure others about your presence."

"You're only doing your job," Shego said, patting Kim on the back. "I understand."

"I'm sorry for snapping, officer," Kim mumbled, leaning into Shego. "I'm usually a lot better at working with law enforcement than this. I'm just not awake right now. And you'd rolled up on one of my best friends."

Shego blinked down at the pretty redhead at that one.

The male officer nodded. "I definitely understand, Miss Possible. I've more than once had to step up like that, myself."

Shego rose a brow as she suddenly found herself considering the man's stance, mannerism, and statements. "You're a veteran yourself, aren't you?"

"Yes, ma'am," the male officer stated proudly. "I served in both Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm as a Marine before becoming a police officer."

Shego nodded. "Thank you, officer, for what you've done. Both then and now."

The male officer smiled. "And thank you again, Miss Shego. I do hope you enjoy your stay here in Santa Fe."

With that, the male officer turned to leave, prompting the still obviously star-struck and chagrined female officer to turn and leave with him.

Shego shut the door and breathed in deeply. "That went better than I expected."

"I can't believe that they would even do that," Kim vented. "I mean, you risked your life to save the world from the Lowardians. You've saved _my_ life several times. You could have died when you left Drakken rather than give up your pardon. And yet they..."

Shego turned and took Kim into her arms, shushing the redhead softly. "Kimmie, listen. I knew this would happen. That's why I carry my pardon papers with me. I spent too long being a violent criminal. I'm not going to escape that overnight. To be honest, that guy there was excessively diplomatic. He could have been an actual jerk."

Kim rested her head on Shego's shoulder and started breathing deeply. "Things went so smoothly in Las Vegas. Why are we getting static now?"

"Businesses in Las Vegas don't care where you got your money, so long as you're giving it to them," Shego laughed. "That's why we spent a whole week there. Most other places are concerned about protecting themselves from people like me."

"But you're not...," Kim started to protest, only to find a slender, green finger on her lips.

"Not anymore," Shego agreed. "But I was. And that's the important part to most people."

"Not to me," Kim breathed. Shego could tell that the redhead was still upset, but was working hard at reigning her temper in.

"I know, Pumpkin," Shego smiled, stroking the redhead's hair. "I know."

Kim opened her eyes and glanced over at the beds. "You got fulls?"

"Well, doy," Shego smirked. "What? Do you _want_ my cold feet on your back?"

"I doubt your feet are cold," Kim mumbled into Shego's shoulder.

Shego caught that non-denial. "Well, it _is _cold outside and we _did _spend quite a bit talking to the police. Did you _want_ me to keep you warm tonight?"

Kim nodded imperceptibly into Shego's shoulder. Shego felt the nod, though.

Shego patted Kim's back playfully. "Well, go get changed for bed, then. You take the bathroom and I'll change out here. But no funny business tonight, young lady. I treasure my innocence and I'd like to keep it."

Kim chuckled and stuck her tongue out at Shego as she pulled away from the ex-villainess and walked towards the bathroom with her suitcase.

"Put that back in your mouth unless you... um, nevermind," Shego said, catching herself before she cracked an inappropriate joke.

Kim apparently caught the joke, though. She wagged her eyebrows playfully at Shego just before disappearing into the bathroom.

Shego gaped at the sight for a couple of moments before shaking her head out of her stupor. Chuckling to herself, she strode over to her suitcase to retrieve her nightgown.

_Maybe it wasn't too soon._

* * *

Kim and Shego strode through the Santa Fe National Cemetery, hand in hand. While the two women earned an odd stare now and then, they remained mostly undisturbed. People were simply more concerned with honoring the fallen veterans buried here than calling shenanigans on a couple of alleged lesbians.

The day's proceedings had gone well. Kim and Shego had gotten bundled up and went to the Santa Fe Plaza to watch the Veteran's Day Parade. They then went to several museums who had opened their doors for free to veterans and their immediate families; Kim and Shego themselves still had to pay admission, but they enjoyed seeing the displays and mingling with the myriad variety of veterans that they met. Learning of all of the sacrifices that living veterans had made—from the Second World War up through the current Iraqi conflict—was a very humbling experience. Finally, they went to the Santa Fe Railyard Complex and Farmer's Market Pavilion and took in the Healing The Scars celebration of oneness—including music, dancing, a drum circle, ceremonies, and more. Shego especially had fun at the Healing The Scars celebration, although Kim really appreciated the forums and movement classes there.

Shego led the way through the cemetery until they reached a particular grave stone. Shego, who was carrying a bouquet of lilies, bent down to place the flowers before the grave stone while Kim studied the inscription on the stone.

_NORMAN GODEAUX, 1967-1996, BELOVED SON, HUSBAND, FATHER, FRIEND, AND HERO_

"Godeaux," Kim breathed softly.

"Daddy," Shego said, still knelt before the grave stone. "I'd like you to meet Kimmie. She kinda took over your job of smacking sense into me. You wouldn't believe what she's capable of. Kinda like what Mom says you were. I think you'd like her. If we took her brain and shoved it in Hank's skull, we'd have what you'd consider a perfect son, I'm sure."

Kim chuckled at that imagery, in spite of herself.

"Listen, Daddy," Shego continued. "I know back on Memorial Day that I was talking the talk. But now I'm walking the walk. I broke up with Drew. Well, he tried to break me, but I showed him that your little girl pushes back and now he's in prison. Now Kimmie and I are kinda taking the tour of the country. I'm not doing the crime thing anymore. Kimmie's shown me that I can rule my life without having to be a jerk to everyone in the process. I hope I can make you proud now."

Kim bit her bottom lip softly as she watched Shego talk to the grave stone. She wasn't sure if she'd ever seen Shego so emotional... well, except when Warmonga was about to kill Kim, but that was a different story.

Shego reached out and stroked the grave stone gently. "I love and miss you, Daddy. Thank you for everything."

Shego then stood up. She didn't bother to turn around. She didn't have to. She knew that Kim's curiosity had been piqued... and that the redhead would be restless until satisfied.

"My father served the United States Army," Shego explained in a soft voice. "He was a Ranger. He died in Afghanistan only two years after the Weegs were born. Melvin and I were maybe eight at the time. But he died a hero, having saved a whole building full of civilians from a bomb."

Kim nodded and stepped up next to Shego. She placed a hand over Shego's hand. Shego responded by turning her hand to lace her fingers in with Kim's.

"After Daddy died, Mom moved us all from Santa Fe to Go City to make ends meet," Shego continued, "Once I was old enough to make the trips myself, I made the pilgrimage back here every Memorial Day and Veteran's Day."

"Sounds like more daughters need to be more like you," Kim said, squeezing Shego's hand softly.

Shego shook her head. "I was the only one of the five of us who would do it. Even Melvin, my twin brother, wouldn't do it. He was too wrapped up in himself to do it. I knew that Dad would have been mad at me when I had my falling-out with my brothers and turned to crime. He raised his daughter better than that. But... yeah."

Kim simply nodded her head and waited for Shego to continue.

Shego turned back to the grave stone. "My Dad was a good man, Kimmie. Between Dad and his best friend... an Army buddy who I only knew as 'Unca Cody,' we had a lot of fun together. It was like I was 'one of the guys' more than Hank and Melvin were."

"I would believe it," Kim said carefully. "You were always the smartest and most self-assured of Team Go."

"Amen to _that_," Shego chuckled humorlessly. Then, she added more softly. "I miss my Dad, Kimmie."

Without hesitation, Kim stepped in and took Shego into her arms. Kim knew she couldn't possibly understand the pain that Shego was going through. The least she could do, though, was lend Shego as much emotional strength as she possibly could. Shego, for her part, leaned down and clutched onto Kim. Kim couldn't hear it, but she could feel it from the way Shego's body was shaking and the moisture that was forming on her shoulder. But she also knew that Shego would never admit to it.

The two women stood there—Shego's face quietly buried in Kim's shoulder and Kim gently stroking Shego's back—for several minutes until their reverie was broken.

"Kimmie? Whatcha doin' here, girl?"

Both Kim and Shego stepped back and blinked at each other before turning to the owner of the voice. A tall man with long graying hair, a full bushy mustache, Western style clothes, and a large Stetson hat strode up to them.

"Uncle Slim?" Kim asked, barely believing what she was seeing. "Isn't Santa Fe a bit south for someone who lives in Montana?"

Kim's paternal uncle, Slim Possible, chuckled at that. "Ain't Santa Fe a bit south for a young'un from about Middleton parts?"

"True," Kim laughed before stepping in to hug the older man. "Still, it's nice to see you, Uncle Slim. I was going to call you later, to wish you a Happy Veteran's Day."

"Thank ya kindly there, Kimmie," Slim smiled, returning the hug warmly.

Meanwhile, Shego stepped back and shuffled uncomfortably.

Slim glanced curiously in Shego's direction. "Howdy, Shego. I understand ya've turned over a new leaf an' yer leadin' a healthy life now, galavantin' with my niece. That ya ain't hangin' with that blue dork that tried to use those silly hats to make himself king of the intellectual hill."

Shego nodded, stifling a chuckle at the memories of that particular adventure. "Yes, Mr. Possible, I have, I am, and I'm not. I got that pardon from Global Justice and I haven't looked back. I still have the voices in my head that tell me to do bad things, but Kimmie's showing me how to win those arguments."

Slim nodded. "That's good. If there ain't nothing more about bein' a Possible, it's that we forgive and forget if the other party is makin' a legitimate effort. If Kimmie's got yer back, then I do, too. So, what brings ya two varmints to these here parts?"

"Well, I...," Shego began to reply, before she was cut short.

"Hey, Pa, I wanted to come up and see that army buddy you keep talkin' abou... Pa! Look out! It's Shego!"

"Oh, snap!" Shego breathed before she backflipped out of the way of a very expertly executed handstand roundhouse kick.

"Joss! What the deuce!" Kim snapped, stepping back as a cowgirl-clad, freckle-faced, auburn-haired blur sped past her for another go at the ex-villainess.

"Jocelyn Nicole Possible!" Slim barked, dipping his hand into his vest. "Hold yer horses and listen a spell, girl! This ain't what you think!"

Joss dipped into another handstand attack, this time backflipping over the raven-haired beauty before executing a beautiful midair spinning roundhouse kick and landing on her hands again. As Shego stumbled slightly forward, Joss somersaulted several yards in order to avoid a counter attack.

A counter attack that came not from Shego, but from Kim.

Before Joss could recover completely to her feet, Kim flew in from the side and tackled her younger cousin. The two women tumbled across the cemetery grounds for several yards before coming to rest near a large oak tree. Kim, who had won the advantageous 'on top' position, pinned Joss' shoulders to the ground with her hands.

"What in tarnation, Kim?" Joss hissed, glaring up at her cousin. "Have ya lost yer senses? That's Shego! She helped kidnap yer Pa several times, tried to kill you dozens of times, could take over the world if she ever wanted to..."

"And was rewarded with a full international pardon for her work during the Lowardian Invasion," Kim growled. "She's saved my life far more than once, is making a solid go at walking away from crime, and she... she's asked me to forgive her."

"And just like that, ya did?" Joss gasped, wide-eyed.

Shego leaned in to Slim and stage whispered, "Possibles forgive and forget?"

Slim smirked and stage whispered back, "She's 16 and has her cousin's bullheadedness."

Shego chuckled on that one. "That'll do it."

"We can hear you!" both Kim and Joss yelled at the two adults laughing softly to themselves.

Kim helped Joss back up to her feet. The two girls then walked up to the two adults.

"By the way, Joss," Kim added as the two of them approached Shego and Slim. "Yes, just like that. I can see it in Shego's eyes, she's being sincere. And I want to help her out in her transition as much as I can."

"Oh?" Joss asked, her eyes twinkling as a mischievous smirk danced across her face. "And, what, pray tell, Kimmie, are ya doin' gazin' into _her_ eyes?"

Joss nudged her cousin playfully with her elbow. Kim's face was in a state of shock, not unlike that of a doe caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. Shego bit her lower lip and blushed ferociously, trying to look at anything other than another face.

Slim caught the whole exchange and erupted into a violent fit of laughter.

Joss then turned to Shego and took a deep breath. "Listen, Shego, I'm sorry. It's just that... I was a huge Kim Possible fan for the longest time. I mean, full-on fangirl obsession-like. I thought I knew everything there was to know about both her and you. And when I saw you there..."

"It's okay, kid," Shego smiled softly. "I'm not going to apologize for what I put your family through back at the Crooked D. I meant every minute of it at the time. But I do promise I'm not going to pull another stunt like that again. Kimmie'll keep me in check even when I can't."

Joss nodded thoughtfully. "Then that's all I need. Thank ya, Shego."

"No big, kid," Shego shrugged casually.

"By the way," Slim said, catching the three women's attentions. "Ya never did answer why y'all were here."

"Well, we're here for the Veteran's Day celebrations," Kim explained. "Shego and I had a lot of fun going to the parade, the museums, and the drum circle. Then we came by to visit her father's grave..." Kim then pointed out the grave stone in question.

Slim's eyes went wide as he shot a look at Shego. "Wait just a tick. _Yer_ ol' Nogo's daughter? _Yer _Little Shelly? Ya look so different, all grown up and green."

"How do you know my...?" Shego began to ask. Then it hit her. "U... Unca Cody? You don't look like... oh, that _mustache_. You didn't have it back then."

"Wait... this is...?" Kim started to ask Shego. She then turned to Slim "That's right. Your real name _is_ Cody, isn't it?"

Slim nodded. "Yeah, it is. In fact, it was ol' Nogo here who gave me the nickname Slim. Said he liked the way my full name rolled off the tongue that way."

"You served together in the Army?" Kim asked.

"We were both Rangers in Afghanistan," Slim replied. As he spoke, he stepped up to the grave stone and laid down a bouquet of flowers. "Became the best of friends there. I would often go home with him on leave since Jim was busy in college and Nana was off on one adventure or another."

Slim then stood up and cocked a mischievous smirk at Shego. "I even remember changin' Li'l Shelly's diapers when she was a young'un."

"D'awwww!" Both Kim and Joss cooed at Shego, smiling.

"Oh, Gawd!" Shego moaned, burying her face in her hands. Kim immediately felt bad, laying an apologetic hand on her arm.

"But then, ol' Nogo went an' died on us," Slim continued. "Janet took the kids, off, an' went to Go City. After that, I lost contact. I met Shana an' moved to Montana to raise Joss. And, yes, I did grow this here mustache during that time. But I always came down every year to pay my respects to ol' Nogo."

"I thought...," Shego started to say. "I thought... that you had just given up on us..."

"No way, li'l lady," Slim scoffed. "I just didn't have no way of findin' y'all. Otherwise, I'd'a... wait, if'n you're Shelly, does that mean the others in Team Go...?"

Shego nodded. "Hego is Hank, Mego is Melvin, and the Weegs are Wesley and Weston."

"My stars," Slim breathed. "I'm'a have to get right back in touch with the boys."

"Be prepared," Shego chuckled dryly. "The boys _are_ a little touched."

"I would be, too, if'n I suddenly got superpowers," Slim said. "Hey, I just got me an idea. You girls care to go out to eat tonight? My treat."

"Shego?" Kim asked, looking at Shego plaintively.

Shego considered Kim for a brief and started to say something. That's when she noticed that Kim was about to pull out the dreaded Puppy Dog Pout. Knowing full well the effects of that apocalyptic scale attack, Shego quickly turned her attention from Kim to the nearby Joss.

Joss had already loaded up and fired off the Puppy Dog Pout... and was executing it perfectly.

Shego convulsed in shock and horror. "Gyah! What the...! Okay, fine, whatever! Who am I to deny the Princess time with her family? Just stop that!"

Slim laughed. "Glad to see ya haven't changed, Spitfire."

Shego punched Slim's arm playfully. "Whatever, you old fart." She then smiled softly and added, "I missed you, old man."

"I missed ya too, Li'l Shelly," Slim smiled, ruffling Shego's hair. "Come'n, that steak and buffet place is screamin' my name."

As Shego, Joss, and Slim walked away, Kim paused for a moment and turned to gaze back onto the grave stone reverently.

"Happy Veteran's Day, Mr. Godeaux," she whispered softly. "I promise. I'll take good care of your little Spitfire. You have my word."

Kim giggled to herself. She then turned to ran to catch up with Shego, Joss, and Slim.

**[END DAY OF REMEMBRANCE]**


	4. Truth Of Gratitude

**SOC ROAD TRIP: TRUTH OF GRATITUDE**

"So, where to next, Pumpkin?" Shego said, stepping down the steps from the giant granite canopy from which the two women had exited.

Kim Possible smiled at Shego in response. "There's a lot to do here in Plymouth. I didn't even realize until we stopped at the tourism center and got the literature."

"Well, doy!" Shego laughed. "It's America's Hometown, after all. That's why I decided to spring for the plane tickets to get here in time for Thanksgiving."

Kim nodded at that and smiled at the memories of the prior week.

Kim and Shego were driving together on a road trip. After finishing up in Santa Fe on Veterans Day, Kim and Shego had decided to get adventurous and drive through Albuquerque and onward along the Rio Grande (or the _Rio Bravo del Norte_, if you saw it from the Mexicans' point of view). They drove into Texas through El Paso and onward through several lesser townships. Finally, they broke from the Rio Grande at Laredo and drove across to Corpus Christi, where they caught the flight to Boston. Once in Boston, they rented a car and drove to Plymouth.

Most of the communities that they had driven through had been heavily Hispanic. But both women were conversationally fluent in Spanish, so that had hindered them little. In fact, both women had been treated exceptionally well in most of the communities through which they had driven. Much more than once, the women had stopped to enjoy some local cuisine at one family's home or another. And it was all delicious. Then again, Shego _really_ enjoyed spicy food...

While Kim was humbled by this treatment, she was rather (pleasantly) surprised that Shego had been treated just as well. Kim had then learned from one of the little boys to whom she'd spoken that Shego was seen as something of a Robin Hood style hero in many of the poorer communities of the United States.

Shego had refused to comment on the matter.

Kim smiled at that memory before looking back at Shego. "Well, we just saw the Plymouth Rock. We could... Hey, why don't we drive out to the Plimoth Plantation? I've wanted to see the _Mayflower _replica docked there."

"The _Mayflower II_?" Shego asked for clarification as the two women strode to their rental car. "Why not? Maybe we can stand on the deck and pretend to be pirates or something."

Kim laughed and posed dramatically next to the black Trans Am. "The Red Devil and the Dragon of the Sea, conquerors of the Seven Seas."

Shego simply shook her head and dropped into the driver's seat of the classic sports car. "Get into the car, my goofy Red Devil, so we can be on our way."

"Aye-aye, Captain Shego!" Kim saluted before she dropped down into the passenger seat of the car and shut the door behind her.

"Oh?" Shego asked as she started the car, looking at Kim curiously. "I'm the captain? I'd've figured that Miss Anything Is Possible would want to be captain."

"Am I really _that_ arrogant?" Kim asked, placing a hand gingerly over her chest in false shock.

"Let's see," Shego smirked as she pulled the car out. "Teen hero. Straight A student. Captain of the cheerleading squad. Chair of just about every student committee in Middleton High. Salutatorian of your graduating class... and the only reason you weren't the valedictorian was because some Stephen Hawkings wannabe beat you out be one-tenth of a percent. Finally, you were a general pain in my ass for almost four years. And I'm supposed to be the World's Greatest Thief and the World's Most Dangerous Woman. Shall I continue?"

"Jealous much?" Kim smirked.

Shego snorted back her laughter. "Jealousy is for the confidence-impaired. There _is _an arena where I know for a fact I will beat you, hands-down. I just won't rush our relationship to _that _stage."

"Oh, really?" Kim laughed in continued mock shock.

Shego smirked at the beautiful redhead. "What? Shocked that I know I'll beat you so easily in that arena?"

Kim shook her head and chuckled. "No. I'm shocked that you're mature enough not to rush it."

"I'm a lot more mature than you give me credit for, Princess," Shego gasped in a mock insulted tone, sticking her tongue out at Kim before returning her attention to the road.

"Says the woman who just gave me the raspberries," Kim chuckled, causing Shego to bow and shake her head chuckling.

* * *

"The Mayflower II was amazing!" Kim laughed, dancing through the street of the Plimoth Plantation. "Pretending to be pirates for a few moments was fun."

Shego nodded as she walked along with her hands in her sweater pockets. "I still have reservations about being the captain, Princess. How about the first mate and navigator? I make a better driver than a leader."

Kim turned around to face Shego with a gentle smile on her face. "Shego, you need to come out of your shell. You may not want to see it, but I think you'd make a wonderful leader."

"Effective, maybe," Shego sighed. "Wonderful, not so much."

Kim considered her traveling partner, her lips pressed thinly together in concern. "Listen, Shego, I know you're not all into Positivity and Girl Power and all that, but you need to start thinking better of yourself."

"On what basis, Kim?" Shego asked. The fact that Shego had just used Kim's proper name wasn't lost on the redhead. "I've spent most of my adult life playing toady to an abusive half-wit. I'd rather be traveling across the country and sampling luxuries rather than settling down and making something of my life. I'm a green-skinned freak who is barely even human. I..."

"Time out," Kim said, more firmly than Shego expected. "Okay, I know you don't like me being the eternal optimist, but now you're being the eternal pessimist. So how about we meet in the middle somewhere?"

"How?" Shego asked, fighting hard to look at Kim in the eyes.

Kim could see the tears starting to well up in Shego's eyes. Maybe she was pushing a little too hard.

"For now," Kim replied softly, "let's just enjoy these luxuries that we're sampling. We're doing this because we both needed a break from the life we're cornered ourselves in. So let's just not be ashamed that we're doing it. Then we'll figure out what to do from there. With fresh minds and fresh souls."

Shego breathed in and nodded solemnly.

Kim smiled softly and patted Shego on the shoulder. "And, for the record, you're not a green-skinned freak. You're a beautiful woman."

Shego smirked softly yet sardonically. "Says the woman who wants to eventually win my heart."

Kim smirked back in a similar fashion. "And the opinion of who else is important? All things considered, a year ago, even mine shouldn't have been important."

"It was," Shego whispered, looking away.

"Shego," Kim replied breathlessly, considering the woman before her as if for the first time.

Shego started to say something more, but something interrupted her.

"Gather round, one and all," a nearby tour guide dressed as an 17th century Pilgrim announced. "Watch as we act out and tell you the story of the First Thanksgiving. Of how the Indians came to the aid of the starving Pilgrims and helped them survive their first winter in the new Colony. Of how the two people celebrated the next harvest together in thankfulness and prayer..."

"It's a lie," Shego growled under her breath, looking at the man in hatred. "It's all a lie."

"Huh?" Kim blinked, caught off guard by Shego's sudden belligerence.

"Come on, Kimmie," Shego snapped, grabbing Kim by the wrist and dragging the redhead away from the tour guid. "We need to leave. Now."

"Um, okay...," Kim said dumbly, following the ex-villainess as best as she could.

* * *

Back at the hotel room, Kim sat huddled on her bed. Just as it had been at every motel or hotel since they had left Middleton, the room was furnished with two full-sized beds rather than a single king-sized bed. Part of Kim was disappointed but part of her was relieved. While part of Kim had yearned to feel Shego's strong, warm arms on a constant basis, she knew that asking for that too often so early in their friendship was result in frustration and hurt feelings.

That was what it was at that point... a friendship. Sure, Shego had allowed Kim to sleep next to her a couple of times. On at least one point, it couldn't be helped... they had slept outdoors and sharing their body heat in the late Autumn was the best option at the time. But at each time, they had simply held each other and enjoyed their shared body heat. It had been purely platonic.

Beyond the occasional kiss on the cheek, they had not even kissed yet.

Considering all of that, Kim was not overly surprised (and should not have been overly concerned) that this particular room had two beds as well.

However, Kim was at that point extremely concerned for Shego. At a time when she seemed to have suddenly hit her emotional lowest, something that the tour guide had said had struck a cord with the green woman and upset her greatly. Kim wanted to reach out and hold Shego. To comfort her. To let her know that she was there for her.

But they were just friends.

_Friend-zoned by my arch-nemesis, _Kim thought to herself. _Wait, why am I worried about that when Shego is hurting so badly? Maybe Shego is right. Maybe I am as arrogant as she says I am._

With that, Kim felt a tear start to creep down her cheek. Absently, she reached up and wiped away the tear with one of her sweater sleeves.

"Are you okay, Pumpkin?" came a voice from the doorway of the nearby bathroom.

Kim glanced over and saw Shego standing there. She was in the black Tacnayn nightgown that Kim had given her. It was the same nightgown that Kim had loaned to Shego when the two of them were staying in that cabin in north Colorado. The same cabin stay that had opened up their friendship and had helped them plan out this road trip.

And Shego looked so beautiful in it.

"I was... worried about you, Shego," Kim confessed. It was the truth, just not the whole truth. "You seemed so angry..."

"An angry Shego _is_ something _everyone_ should be worried about," Shego chuckled, crossed the room and sitting down on the bed next to Kim. "That just means you're smart. Par for the course for a Possible. So, why the tears?"

"I...," Kim started, pausing. "I... I guess I'm just having selfish thoughts. That's all."

Shego shook her head. "Not everything can be fixed with a positive thought and a kind word, Cupcake. At least, I'm assuming that's what you were thinking—that you wished you could say a couple of magic words and chase my blues away."

Kim nodded. "Something like that..."

Kim wasn't sure if it was safe to confide in Shego what she was _really_ thinking.

"I've had a rough life, Kimmie," Shego said soothingly, reaching out to stroke the redhead's hair gently.

_Grrr! So not helping! _Kim thought to herself as she subconsciously leaned into the ex-villainess' soothing touch.

"I have to come to terms with my demons on my own terms, in my own time," Shego continued. "But I can do it. Especially if you've got my back like you do. I owe you a lot, Kimmie."

"Then I will be patient," Kim said softly, almost mutely, as she closed her eyes and bent her head into Shego's gentle fingers.

Shego smirked. She didn't miss the significance of what Kim had just said. The redhead probably didn't even realize she had said it, given the state of platonic euphoria she was in thanks to Shego's expert fingers. "Thank you," Shego replied simply, even though the urge to toy with the redhead was nigh overwhelming. "Besides, a quick hot shower and I'm in a much better mood. Just in time for our Thanksgiving gathering."

Kim blinked and sat back up to look at Shego. "Gathering? Where are we going?"

"What?" Shego laughed, placing a hand on her chest in mock shock. "Go to a restaurant in Plymouth on Thanksgiving Day? Are you out of your mind? I'm not fighting those crowds. I've ordered room service. We're having the gathering here."

Kim smirked playfully at that. "A gathering of two, I take it?"

Shego laughed. "As lovely as that sounds right now, sadly, no. I've invited some guests."

Before Kim could ask further, the hotel room phone rang. Shego stood up and strode to the phone, answering it.

"Yes? They have? Very well, send them on up. Would you also check on my room service? I appreciate it. Thank you."

With that, Shego hung up the phone.

"The guests are here?" Kim asked carefully.

"Yes, they are," Shego replied, bowing her head. "Now I have to beg you to be my emotional anchor yet again. God help me for inviting these idiots over for dinner."

Kim's eyes went wide on hearing that. "Wait, you actually invited...?"

Before Kim could finish the question, the door to the hotel room burst open and a tall, slender man jumped in to the room. Posing dramatically in his purple suit, dress shirt, and tie, his mulleted and ponytailed purple hair swayed in some imagined breeze. He smiled and declared loudly, "Tada! The life of the party _has _arrived!"

"You're losing your senses in your old age, Melvin," Shego laughed, suddenly drawing Kim into a tight hug. "She arrived with me last night."

Kim blushed softly to that, privately enjoying the hug.

"Whatever," Melvin laughed. "I brought you your rhubarb pie, Sis. So the least you could do is humor me for once."

"Oh, is poor Mego's widdle ego hurt by...," Shego began. She suddenly stopped and blinked. "Wait, did you say rhubarb pie? Where?"

Mego laughed. "That caught your attention, didn't it? Wesley should be up with it any moment."

Shego pouted. "What, you couldn't even be bothered to _carry_ it?"

"And strain my delicate and oh-so-handsome back?" Mego said, twisting about as if to pop his back back into place. "Plus it might ruin my manicure."

Shego rolled her eyes at that. Kim couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Shelly, are you...," a voice called from out in the hallway.

"...in here?" came a second, identical voice.

"Wesley, Weston!" Shego called. "Yeah, I'm in here. Get yourselves in here. One of you twerps have my pie!"

Two young men, in their late teens, stepped into the room. They both had dark red hair and wore dark red t-shirts over blue jeans and tennis shoes. One of them was indeed carrying a pie.

"Hi, Weegs," Kim gushed as Shego immediately leapt to her feet to accept the proffered pie.

"Hi, Kim!" both Wesley and Weston chimed in unison. "Thank you for having us over."

"Please," Kim replied, waving the gratitude off. "It was Shego's idea. She put all the work in the planning and prepping."

"What the Princess is trying to avoid saying is that I surprised her with this," Shego laughed, setting the pie down on a nearby table. "So, when is Hank getting here?"

Mego blinked a couple of times at Shego as he looked confused. "Wait, I was supposed to tell Henry that we were gathering like this? I thought this was all about me. My bad."

Shego stopped to glare angrily at Mego for several moments. The Wego twins glanced between the two siblings as Kim fidgeted slightly at the sight. Finally, both Shego and Mego began laughing long and hard.

"Oh, man, I love you, Melvin," Shego finally said, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye. "You know how to kiss up to me despite your prima donna attitude."

"Don't I know it," Mego smiled. "I'm the best, I know."

"So," Kim said, looking at Mego. "You guys flew out here to celebrate Thanksgiving with us?"

"Yeah," Mego said, turning to the redhead. "Sheeg called me last week, said she wanted to meet up today."

Kim rose her brows to that before turning to consider Shego. Shego merely shrugged.

"I've had a little bit to get over what Drakken did to me," Shego admitted. "So, now I'm able to deal with my family."

"And besides, Hank is the only one...," Wesley began.

"...who'd give Shego flak for going evil," Weston finished.

"I probably would, too," Melvin corrected. "But I'm better than Hank in every way. And I'm not lowering myself to his level."

"Lord knows you have your own lows to descend to," Shego smirked, earning a mocking face from her brother.

At that point, there was a knock at the hotel door. Kim strode over to the door, peeped through the peephole, and then opened the door. Three attendants entered, each pushing a food cart.

"And _that_ would be Thanksgiving dinner," Shego smiled, rubbing her hands together.

The attendants each lifted the covers from their respective dishes, then nodded respectfully to Kim and the Go's before retreating from the room. Before the heroes was a full spread of a Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey meat, already carves and separated artfully onto plates of white and dark meats, was flanked by casserole dishes full of stuffing, cornbread, and gravy. A second cart featured green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, and candied yams. A third cart tantalizingly displayed apple pie, pumpkin pie, and chocolate cream pie. Wesley quickly placed Shego's rhubarb pie next to the other pies. There was a bucket of ice underneath the pie cart.

"This looks so wonderful," Kim smiled. "Did they not bring up anything to drink?"

Shego smirked and stood up. "That, Princess, was my department."

Shego then strode over to the room's dresser and opened one of the drawers. She gingerly lifted a large wine bottle out of the drawer and proudly presented it to the rest of the attendees.

"Nice!" Kim breathed.

"Don't worry, you can thank me later," Shego purred playfully at Kim.

Kim, who was still having troubled thoughts about her current standing with the ex-villainess, bit her lower lip and blushed slightly, fidgeting in her spot on the edge of her bed. That didn't escape Mego's notice. Mego considered Kim momentarily before raising a brow to his sister.

Shego chuckled slightly at that. She walked past Mego towards the carts. As she did, she leaned into her brother.

"Believe you me, Meeg," Shego stage-whispered into Mego's ear. "_When _it happens, you will _not_ be getting any notification on it. So just keep your little fantasies in your head."

Kim blinked at that. _She said __**when**__, not __**if**__, _she thought to herself. _There's still hope._

Shego caught how Kim's mood seemed to suddenly brighten. She grinned mischievously at the redhead in response before placing the wine into the bucket of ice. She then turned to the others, slapped her hands together, and took a deep breath.

"Okay, ladies," Shego said. "This dinner isn't serving itself. You see the plates and silverware under the turkey cart. Start grabbing grub."

As Mego and the Wego twins stood up to approach the carts, Kim bent forward, closed her eyes, and cupped her hands together.

Shego turned to see Kim in that position. "Kimmie? Are you okay?"

"Heavenly Father, on Thanksgiving Day," Kim began in a soft, reverent tone. "We bow our hearts to You and pray. We give You thanks for all You've done, especially for the gift of Jesus, Your Son. For beauty in nature, Your glory we see. For joy and health, friends and family. For daily provisions, Your mercy and care. These are the blessings You graciously share. So today we offer this response of praise with a promise to follow You all of our days. Amen."

Shego rose a brow to that. "Is that a traditional prayer in your family?"

Kim nodded. "Yeah, but just within the last couple of years. Mom found it on the Internet and fell in love with it. A Christian writer by the name of Mary Fairchild originally wrote it."

Shego offered a hand to Kim and grinned. "Well, Pumpkin, you've said grace. Now you need to get your skinny fanny up and get yourself some food."

"Yes, Mother Shego," Kim laughed with a playful sarcasm lacing her voice. She took Shego's hand and allowed herself to be hefted up onto her feet. "By the way, I'm glad you're in such a good mood now. Thank you."

"You weren't before?" Mego asked curiously, turning to Shego with a plate (and mouth) full of food. Shego turned to Mego with a certain look and Mego rolled his eyes. "You were near the Pilgrim performers when they started their First Thanksgiving spiel, weren't you."

"Yeah," Shego growled. "And I didn't stay long enough for them..."

"...to tick you off too badly," Mego nodded. "Gotcha. Good idea."

"Okay, that's just creepy," Kim muttered softly, looking between the two siblings.

"What's creepy?" both Shego and Mego said in unison, turning to look at the redhead.

"Um, that?" Kim replied, pointing at the two of them.

Shego and Mego looked at each other for a moment then started laughing. Shego tried to sober herself by clearing her throat before turning back to Kim.

"Kimmie, sweetie," Shego chuckled. "I know I don't make a big deal out of it, so you probably didn't catch it in all of our talking. But Meeg is my twin brother."

"Oh, yeah," Kim laughed apologetically. "You did mention that before. I'm just so used to identical twins, between the Tweebs and the Weegs, that I'm not used to fraternal twins."

Shego and Mego glanced at each other for a moment and started laughing again.

Wesley and Weston, who were now sitting on Shego's bed with full plates of food, looked up angrily at their siblings.

"Don't you dare...," Wesley started.

"...say a word," Weston finished.

"Um, okay?" Kim muttered, fidgeting slightly where she stood.

"Oh, now we _have_ to say something," Mego laughed, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, you made my Kimmie uncomfortable with that," Shego agreed.

Both Wesley and Weston harrumphed at that.

"Say something about what?" Kim asked innocently enough.

Shego was grinning as if she had just had the most perfect Christmas morning. "Meeg and I _are _twins. Wesley and Weston are _not_."

"Say what?" Kim breathed with astonishment in her voice.

"Yeah," Wesley sighed sadly. "It's true. Technically..."

"...I'm a copy, not a twin," Weston finished, biting his lower lip.

"Wesley was jealous of the glory Sheeg and I were hogging," Mego said. "So, when we all got our comet powers...,"

"...Wesley made a copy of himself, named him Weston, and refused to dismiss him ever since," Shego added.

"We are _not_ jealous!" both Wesley and Weston exclaimed. Then, in unison, they sobered their expressions and glanced sadly to the floor. "Okay, maybe we are."

"Hey, look at it this way," Kim explained, stepping up to the Wego twins. "I'm stuck as a single person. Shego and Mego are stuck as twins. You, on the other hand..." At that point, Kim flashed Wesley and Weston a mischievous grin. "You can decide on the spur of the moment that you want to be the world's first set of icosaplets and make it happen."

"Ico... what?" Shego asked, cocking a brow.

"College kids and their big words," Mego said, shaking his head.

"Ico...?" Wesley asked, looking at Weston.

"...saplets?" Weston finished, looking back at Wesley.

Then suddenly, both of the Wego twins eyes lit up and they both smiled. "Oh, my God!" they both exclaimed in unison.

That caused Shego to freeze up in fear. "Kimmie, what did you do?"

Kim stood back with a smug, satisfied grin on her face as she crossed her arms and watched the Wego twins.

"Now we're going to have to come up with...," Wesley began excitedly.

"...eighteen more names for ourselves," Weston finished.

"WHAT?!" Shego all but screamed.

Kim smiled at her travel companion. "You know how twins are the two count, triplets are the three count, quadruplets are the four count, and so on? Well, icosaplets are the twenty count."

Shego groaned and slapped a hand over her eyes as she bowed her head. Mego simply shook his head and chuckled.

"Mego!" Wesley and Weston asked in unison. "Can we hit the library here in Plymouth before heading home?"

"I'll think about it," was all that Mego promised.

The rest of the meal went about quietly, as everyone filled their plates and enjoyed a good meal. As everyone began picking out deserts, Kim asked a question.

"You don't seem to like the story of the First Thanksgiving, Shego," Kim said, looking at her companion curiously. "Why is that?"

"Because it's nothing but a big fat lie," Shego growled softly. "And, no, I'm not mad at you, before you get any ideas about my mood. It's just a sore point with me."

"With us," Mego added, taking a bite out of his chocolate cream pie. "Have you told her, Sheeg?"

Shego shook her head. "I never saw it as important."

"Told me what?" Kim asked, suddenly curious.

"Hego, Mego, the Weegs, and I," Shego explained between bites of her rhubarb pie, "we're all part Native American. Our maternal grandmother was Wampanoag."

Kim nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. And I take it then that you were taught a different story about the First Thanksgiving?"

Shego nodded. "European settlers who came before the Pilgrims basically wiped out the Patuxet people. They were either sold into slavery or allowed to die from small pox. By the time the Pilgrims did come, there was only one former slave Patuxet left, by the name of Squanto."

"It was Squanto who taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn and how to fish," Mego continued. "He even negotiated a peace treaty with the Wampanoag Nation. Afterwards, the First Thanksgiving pretty much happened as you're led to believe."

"So, what's the issue?" Kim asked. "I mean, beyond the unfortunate decimation of the Patuxets, which I can see you being mad about."

"It was the results of that First Thanksgiving," Shego seethed. "When other Europeans found out how good the Pilgrims had it with the Wampanoag, they came over and started seizing up land and Native Americans like they owned the place. Did you know that the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared a Day of Thanksgiving because over 700 men, women, and children had been murdered?"

"What?" Kim breathed. "I don't remember that in History class. Then again, Mr. Barkin was teaching that class half of the time..."

Shego rolled her eyes. "Steve probably spoon fed you something from a children's book. I mean, the man is sweet enough and easy on the eyes, but the poor dope is so overworked he can't tell north from strawberry cheesecake."

"Sheeg is right, though," Mego said, leaning forward with a serious look on his face. "Not only that about the Massachusetts guy, churches declared another Day of Thanksgiving for the victory of us heathens. They were kicking Native heads around like soccer balls during the feasts."

Kim suddenly stopped chewing on her pumpkin pie and looked down on her desert as if noticing for the first time how disgusting it must be.

"They just kept at it until the number of Days of Thanksgiving for victories over Natives became stupid ridiculous," Shego continued. "Finally, our wise first President said enough was enough and said there should be only one day of Thanksgiving each year instead of one celebrating each and every massacre."

"Even President Lincoln, the one who declared Thanksgiving a national holiday, did so on the same day he ordered troops to march on Minnesota Sioux," Mego pointed out.

Kim nodded softly to that. She honestly didn't know how to respond to all of that.

"So, yeah, Cupcake," Shego said, sitting down next to Kim and scooting close to her. "I didn't mean to bring the mood down like this..."

"...but I did ask," Kim agreed. "And I feel better knowing you're willing to be honest with me, even in the face of something like that."

Shego smiled softly. "So, how about we move on to something happy?"

Kim glanced up and, for a brief moment, olive eyes met emerald eyes. For Kim, the world seemed to stand still as she gazed into Shego's eyes. Then, suddenly, Kim got an impulse. One that she followed through on. She quickly leaned up and kissed Shego playfully on her left cheek. She then giggled and skipped across the room.

"I'm in my happy zone now," Kim laughed as she dished herself up some more pumpkin pie.

"Did she just...?" Mego whispered to Shego in an incredulous tone.

"Mind out of the gutter, Melvin," Shego whispered back with a guttural growl in her voice.

"Right," Mego replied, stuffing a huge bite of chocolate cream pie into his mouth.

* * *

"I love and miss you too, Mom," Kim said into her wrist Kimmunicator. "So we're meeting in Florida at Nana's for Christmas, right?"

"I hope we do, Kimmie," came the voice of Kim's mother, Dr. Anne Possible. "I miss you so much."

"We'll call it a date then," Kim laughed. "I'll go ahead then and let you..." She paused as Shego, who was laying in her bed nearby, waved frantically at her. "Oh, wait, Shego wanted to say something."

Kim took her Kimmunicator off of her wrist and handed it to Shego. Shego smiled and held the Kimmunicator to her face. "Hi, Anne. I just wanted to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and to thank you for everything."

"I'm just glad you're both safe and happy," Anne replied. "Especially with everything you've been through recently."

"Bah," Shego scoffed playfully. "Be at ground zero of a meteor landing and then come tell me about how hard it is coping with a nut job with a temper problem."

"I'm still glad you girls are safe and happy," Anne countered. "And that 'nut job' just got his sentence earlier this week. They threw the proverbial book at him this time."

"Good," Shego replied. "Now let's hope there are no one like Warmonga willing to bust him out again."

"Let's hope," Anne agreed. "Well, you two have a good night. I'll talk at you two later?"

"It's guaranteed, Anne," Shego said softly. "You couldn't keep the two of us away even if you tried."

"Good," Anne said, the smile apparent in her voice. "Good night, Shego. Good night, Kimmie!"

"Night, Mom!" Kim yelled back, hoping she was heard over the Kimmunicator.

Shego then handed the Kimmunicator back to Kim. "I love your Mom, Kimmie. I mean, my Mom was a hard worker and took care of her kids, but your Mom seems to have that special something."

"She does," Kim agreed, smiling softly. "And I'd like to meet your Mom someday."

"Someday," Shego said, nodding softly.

Kim then laid down in her bed and rolled over so that her back was facing Shego. "Well, I'm well fed and pooped. Good night, Shego."

"Good night, Princess," Shego replied.

Kim settled into her pillow and smiled softly as thoughts of the day and how it turned out drifted through her head. Just as she was about to nod off to sleep, she was startled by an unexpected sensation. A soft pair of lips brushed playfully across her right cheek. Before Kim could bolt upright, soft footsteps padded across the room and Shego was already settled back into bed.

As Kim blinked incredulously at Shego, Shego chuckled. "I'm in my happy zone now. Good night, Kimmie."

With that, Shego closed her eyes and was instantly asleep.

Kim reached a hand up to her right cheek and gently touched where she had felt the kiss. She then smiled softly at the green-skinned beauty before laying back down and settling into a soft, gentle, happy sleep of her own.

**[END TRUTH OF GRATITUDE]**


	5. Lights Over Yuletime

**SOC ROAD TRIP: LIGHTS OVER YULETIME**

Kim Possible strolled out to the edge of the beach and stood there, watching the waves crash against the shore. The sky was partly cloudy and the temperature was a comfortable 22 degrees Celsius. Kim was dressed in a red long-sleeved shirt with tight jeans and tennis shoes. Her long, red hair fluttered slightly in the breeze. Her olive green eyes gazed out across the azure waters as the sun set behind her.

Kim smiled at the sight. Her grandmother's beach house in southern Florida was always so beautiful and welcoming. While the family usually celebrated Christmas in Middleton, where there was at least a chance for a white Christmas, Nana Possible had insisted that the family come out to Florida this year. Part of it was Kim's fault, actually. She and Shego had been on their road trip and had been on the East Coast since Thanksgiving. They had traveled south on US 95 from Plymouth, Massachusetts, and visited various cities like New York (where they promised themselves they would return on New Year's Eve), Philadelphia, Washington, Richmond, Fayetteville, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Daytona Beach. Nana Possible's retirement home was a privately owned community sitting directly on a beachfront south of Daytona Beach. And it was beautiful.

Kim took a deep breath and turned to look back at Nana's house. Inside were most of her extended family. Her grandmother, Nana Possible, sat in the living room with her two sons, Dr. James Timothy Possible and Cody "Slim" Possible, along with James' wife and Kim's mother, Anne. Kim's younger twin brothers, Jim and Tim Possible, were busy making a fool of themselves around their cousin, Jocelyn "Joss" Possible. Kim's traveling companion, Shego, was busy setting up their bedroom and had insisted that Kim go and spend time enjoying her family instead of helping.

Kim took a deep breath on that thought. _Their _bedroom. That almost stopped Kim's heart. It was funny... not even a year and a half ago, both Kim and Shego would not have even thought about sharing the same building together, let alone the same bedroom. They had been bitter enemies, after all, Kim the hero and Shego the villain. The Lowardian Invasion, and the subsequent pardon that Shego was given for her role in thwarting the Lowardians, had changed all of that. Shego was making an honest go at being... well, honest. So much so that when Drakken had tried to get back into world conquering, Shego protested, which nearly cost Shego her life. Shego trapped Drakken, turned him over to Global Justice, and fled to Kim for sanctuary. It was then that they decided to go on that road trip that they had discussed a month prior. During the trip, Kim and Shego had grown accustomed to sharing a room at nights, if even in separate beds.

Sharing a bedroom at Nana Possible's house was an entirely different thing from sharing a motel room. Kim closed her eyes and took a deep breath at the thought. She knew she was just overthinking it. But she had been crushing on Shego for some time now... for reasons even she didn't fully understand, seeing as they both preferred guys. And the thought of sharing a bedroom in her grandmother's house was... delightfully scandalous.

It wouldn't be the first time the two of them had done something that bordered on the scandalous. On their first night in Santa Fe, they shared a bed; however, in both women's defense, that had more to do with the temperature outside and Kim's foul mood after Shego had been visited by police officers than anything else. The two of them had also gotten a little bit too goofy in Washington, D.C.; they had literally been kicked out of Lincoln Memorial for having posed on Lincoln's shoulders. Or the time they were driving through Savannah, stopping local residents and asking where they might find some tasty Georgia peaches. And Las Vegas, right after leaving Middleton in October... suffice it to say that what happens in Vegas truly does stay in Vegas.

Kim chuckled at the warm memories. Shego had been right. They had both needed this road trip. Not only had they needed to just get away and unwind from the constant hustle of being hero and villain, they needed to get away and just make some memories of their own. Now Kim could write her ex-boyfriend and still best friend, Ron Stoppable, with news of her latest adventure on the road trip and feel like she wasn't trying to bore him.

Speaking of Ron, Kim pulled her smart phone, the one that Shego had bought for her in Vegas, and brought up her email. It had been a few days since she last checked her email and Ron usually wrote her at least once every couple of days. Sure enough, there was a letter in her inbox from Ron. Smiling softly, Kim tapped the email and read it aloud to herself.

_Hey, KP!_

_I hope your Christmas is going well for you. I heard you're going down to Nana's this year. Yikes! I hope you don't roast to death in that scorching Florida sun! Haha! Anyway, Happy Ho-Ho-Ho and all that! Give everyone my love. Yeah, even Miss Fiery Hands Of Death. I'm still weirded out by you carpooling with her. But she hasn't done you wrong yet, so I won't say anything._

_Except that I just did. Gyah! I hate my big mouth sometimes!_

_Anyway, I got a double-whammy this year. It was all good for the Ron-man. You wouldn't believe..._

* * *

"So, this is the Yamanouchi Ninja School?" asked Donald Stoppable as he and his wife, Lonnie, walked along the pebblestone path through a carefully cultivated cherry tree orchard on their way to the main dojo/temple of the compound. In Lonnie's arms was the three year old Japanese girl they had adopted nearly three years ago, Hana. Hana glanced around happily, cooing and gawing at the sites around her.

"In all of its glory and hype," Donald's son, Ron Stoppable, agreed, presenting it all with a flourish as they walked along. "In a moment, we'll be passing the training barracks. This is where most of the students sleep if they're still in basic training. These guys aren't really ninjas yet, but then again, most of them aren't much older than Hana, either."

"Oh, my," Lonnie breathed, looking at the large barracks buildings on either side of the path as they walked by. "There must be hundreds of kids here."

"There are 144 trainees at any given time," Ron agreed as they continued to walk. "Most of them either give up or graduate by about age 11 or 12."

The Stoppable family continued to walk. They passed through a beautiful Japanese garden, complete with a carefully manicured stream and a flora-adorned bridge from which to observe the garden in all of its splendor. After the Stoppables took in the sight, they continued along the path until they reached other pair of buildings.

"This is the Genin dorms," Ron explained. "They're like the training barracks, except that you have dorm rooms shared four to a room rather than a large common room. Genin are technically ninjas now, but they've still got a lot to learn. So they take on simple missions and train the rest of the time."

Donald nodded thoughtfully as he and his family continued to walk along the path. The path opened up onto a series of mysterious looking statues with colorful streamers and various other decorations adorning them.

"What are these?" Lonnie asked, admiring the statues warily as Hana tried to reach out to grab at one of the streamers.

"The Yamanouchi clan venerates Shinto spirits," Ron explain, pausing to turn and bow reverently to one of the statues. "Each of these shrines is dedicated to a particular spirit of luck, fortune, skill, or whatever. The students pay their respects to these spirits each day as they pass from the barracks and dorms to the training grounds."

"And you venerate them, too?" Lonnie asked, a slight bit of concern in her voice.

"Well, doy!" Ron laughed as he guided his parents past the rest of the statues. "I mean, when in Rome and all that. It's called being respectful to my fellow students. And it's part of the discipline in the training."

"I see," Lonnie replied, clearly not entirely mollified.

"I haven't abandoned my Jewish faith," Ron explained, smiling softly at his mother as they walked along. "I mean, Master Sensei is very respectful of everyone's faiths, including mine. And Yori's been asking a lot about it lately."

"Oh, really?" Lonnie asked, suddenly a lot less apprehensive. If her son was not only _not_ abandoning Judaism but was also working towards converting his girlfriend to Judaism...

Ron nodded. "I don't know why, since she's always been so faithful to her Shinto faith, but she's been asking me a lot of questions about it."

"Well, there is always hope," Lonnie said, which earned her a glare from her husband that she found confusing.

"Past the shrines are the training grounds themselves," Ron continued. As he spoke, the quartet stepped into view of two large training grounds surrounded by various building. Dozens of student ninjas were practicing, training, and sparring. "This is where the trainees and Genin train and spar. The buildings you see over there are the Chuunin apartments."

"The... what?" Donald asked, looking around at the expertly crafted Japanese architecture.

"The Chuunin are who you think of when you think of ninjas," Ron explained, pausing to admire all of the students hard at work. "They're the ones who go out and do the actual stuff that ninjas are known for... although ninjas are supposed to not be known for anything. Thanks for ruining _that _one for us, Hollywood!"

Donald chuckled softly at that, which prompted his wife to give him a queer look. Hana, meanwhile, continued to make noises and giggle and laugh at the sights.

"Anyway, each of the Chuunin share a bunk room with a single partner," Ron said as he turned to walk further down. "Their dorm is right on the training grounds because they're also expected to train the trainees and Genin."

"Makes sense," Donald agreed, nodding his head as he followed his son. "Keep the teachers close to the classrooms."

"Exactly," Ron agreed.

Soon, the path opened up into a large courtyard, where three buildings indicated the end of the path. These buildings were exquisitely built. Many of the students were in this area, apparently cleaning, gardening, or performing maintenance on the buildings.

"And this is the Grand Courtyard," Ron declared as they walked along. "Here is where Master Sensei greets all of our guests. The Jonin ninja also enjoy full apartments in these two buildings. Our Kage, Master Sensei, lives in the Grand Temple and Dojo straight in front of us."

"Wow...," Lonnie breathed, looking the grand building at the end of the path appreciatively.

"So, what rank are you, son?" Donald asked, his pride obvious in his voice.

"Um...," Ron mumbled, glancing away and scratching the back of his head. "Trainee..."

"Wait," Donald responded, cocking a brow in confusion. "You're this master of monkey magic... you and Monkey Fist are the only two people who possess it..."

"And Rufus!" Ron corrected with a rather academic air.

"Yu-huh! Me!" came the squeaky voice of Rufus, Ron's pet naked mole rat, as he poked his head out of the pocket of Ron's white _gi _uniform.

"And Rufus," Donald conceded. "Listen, my point is, you're this powerhouse of a martial artist. You have all of this incredible power, power that you're getting better and better at using. You're the pride and joy of this dojo. You're this hero of prophecy. And you're only a trainee?"

Ron hung his head in shame. "Well, getting the ranks means passing the classes and the tests."

Lonnie narrowed her eyes at her son. "You've been telling us you've been excelling in your classes."

"Doy! At the Cordon Bleu! At culinary school!" Ron admitted. "My instructors say I have the makings of a world-class chef. I just happen to make a much better cook than I do a ninja."

"That still doesn't make me happy about how they're treating you here," Donald said.

"Good news is that Rufus is a Jonin," Ron added proudly.

Rufus leapt out from inside Ron's pocket and began expertly displaying martial kata like a true master.

"So, the naked mole rat has a greater rank in the ninja arts than you do," Donald said in disbelief.

"Are you kidding?" Ron laughed. "You should see what Rufus' size does for him in the stealth department. And his Monkey Grip Roundhouse Kick is a beauty to behold..."

"Ronald, we're losing focus on the issue here," Lonnie scolded. "We're concerned about the psychological abuse you're enduring here, being treated like you are. Is it because you're not Japanese? Is it because you're Jewish?"

Ron looked at his mother like she had just fallen off of the short bus.

"Ronald, we understand you enjoy your time here," Donald explained, trying for a more diplomatic approach. "We also understand you have feelings for this Yori girl. But you have to understand. As your parents, we're very concerned. It has been four years since you started here. And they haven't elevated you in rank even once."

"That is because Ron Stoppable-san's destiny as the Ultimate Mystical Monkey Master was never tied to such secular concerns as rankings within a ninja school," came a wizened old voice from over to the side.

All three individuals turned to see an short old man, his face nearly completely obscured by his eyebrows, mustache, and beard. He wore the robes of a traditional Japanese noble, but carried himself like a cinematic martial arts warrior. He floated... yes, floated... down to the Stoppable family.

"Master Sensei," Ron said, bowing respectfully to the old man.

"Hey, you're the guy that ran the Yamanouchi Adaption Age...," Donald started to say, before things clicked in his brain and he made the connections. "Oooooh!"

"Sensei!" Hana giggled, trying to peel herself out of Lonnie's arms so she could move towards the old man.

"Excuse me?" Lonnie said, considering the old man carefully. "With all due respect, your honor, or... or whatever I'm supposed to call you. But what purpose does it serve you to hold my son back like you are when he's done so much for you and your school... for the world."

"Stoppable-san has indeed made great strides as a Master of Mystical Monkey Power," Master Sensei agreed. "His status as a Mystical Monkey Master is completely independent of his status as a Yamanouchi ninja."

"So, he _is_ treated with respect, just not as a ninja?" Donald asked for clarification.

"_All_ of my students are treated with respect," Master Sensei replied, with no hint of malice whatsoever to his voice. "However, it is indeed true that Stoppable-san has proven his worth as a Mystical Monkey Master multiple times over whereas he is still attempting to grasp the basics of the arts of the ninja."

"So, how do you get by, sleeping in the trainee barracks with so many other people?" Donald asked his son.

Master Sensei rose a brow to Ron, who simply looked down to the ground in an attempt to hide the deep red blush on his face.

"Ronald?" Donald asked, now concerned.

"Um...," Ronald mumbled, fidgeting slightly.

"Remember, Stoppable-san," Master Sensei gently said, looking supportively to his prized pupil. "The naked truth is always more liberating than the burdening cloths of a lie."

"Yori is a Jonin," Ron finally admitted. "And... and she shares her apartment with me."

"Oh, is that all?" Donald said, sighing in relief. "Here, I thought you were going to say something like... OW!"

Lonnie, who had just cuffed her husband on the back of the head, growled at Donald. "Think about what he just said, Donald. He's shacking up with a girl."

Just as Lonnie had finished speaking, all three Stoppables noticed that all of the trainees and Genin in the courtyard had ceased all of their work and had assumed battle stances in a circle around the small group.

"Be calmed, my students," Master Sensei announced. "Stoppable-san's mother was simply exercising an American custom for expressing disagreement with her husband."

Nearly in unison, all of the students rose into relaxed stances, then bowed respectfully to Master Sensei before returning to their duties.

"You know, for a bunch of ninjas, you sure do take someone being violent very seriously," Lonnie breathed, her face nearly white as a ghost.

"I make is expressedly clear that non-consensual violence on the dojo grounds is quite forbidden," Master Sensei agreed. "Now, concerning the topic of Stoppable-san's residence..." Master Sensei turned to Ron. "Stoppable-san, why not escort your parents to your apartment. Yori expressed a desire to show it off to them when they arrived. I believe she is there now."

"You got it, Master Sensei," Ron replied, bowing respectfully to the old man.

"Good," Lonnie said under her breath. "Cause I'd like to give that little hussy a piece of my mind..."

Donald gave Lonnie a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder as Lonnie adjusted herself to hold Hana better. The two elder Stoppables then followed their son across the courtyard and into one of the apartment buildings. After climbing some stairs, Ron turned right and approached a doorway. Both Donald and Lonnie took pause when they noticed a _mezuzah_—a small scroll of Hebrew Torah verses within a decorative case—placed on the doorjam at about shoulder height, slanted inward towards the door.

"I will admit, you'll definitely see which side of the apartment is mine," Ron said with an apologetic smile.

Lonnie merely shook her head as Donald chuckled softly.

With that, Ron took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Yori!" Ron called as he stepped into the apartment. "I'm home!"

Ron then stopped and gawked at the sight in front of him. As Donald and Lonnie entered the room, they gawked at the sight, too.

Across the room, sitting on a table next to a window overlooking the courtyard, was a golden _chanukkiah _with eight unlit candles placed upon it. A smaller, simpler candleholder with a candle sat beside the _chanukkiah_.

"Ronald," Donald nodded appreciatively. "I like this. Where did you get the _menorah _and _mezuzah _here in Japan?"

"I...," Ron stammered, still gobsmacked by the candelabrum himself. "I didn't."

"What?" Lonnie asked, confused. "Then how...?"

"I ordered them off of Ebay," came a soft, feminine voice from inside the adjoining bedroom. "The shipping costs were extravagant, but the purchase was well worth the money."

All three Stoppables turned to see Yori standing in the doorway leading to the bedroom. She was dressed in her white _gi _uniform and sported a soft smile that immediately put Ron at ease.

"Yori?" Ron asked, motioning to the _chanukkiah_. "You did this... for me?"

"It was my honor to do it for _both of us_," Yori corrected, stepping up to the young, blonde man. "You have shown such tolerance and respect for my Shinto faith. Why should I not afford you the same honor and respect? I even have some of those spinning tops of which you spoke..."

"_Dreidels_?" Donald offered helpfully.

"Yes, _dreidels_," Yori agreed, smiling brightly at Ron's father. She then turned to Ron and placed her hands lovingly on his chest. "Ron-kun, perhaps you could teach me how to play?"

"Of course I will, Yori," Ron smiled impishly as he brushed one of her raven bangs out of her eyes. "It would be my honor."

Yori giggled softly then turned to Ron's parents. "Stoppable-basan, Stoppable-jisan, I do hope you will find your accommodations here acceptable for your stay. I have requisitioned beddings for you and for Hana-chan. I have also purchased additional supplies for Hana-chan, like foodstuff and diapers."

Donald rose a brow to Lonnie. "So, what do you think of this 'hussy' now, dear?"

Lonnie blushed deep red at her husband's blatant attempt to out her for her attitude. "Um, I... I approve. Wholeheartedly."

"What is a 'hussy'?" Yori asked with innocent curiosity.

"Don't worry about it, Yori," Ron replied, growling at his mother. "I'll explain after my parents leave after the holidays."

Lonnie gulped audibly.

"In the meantime," Donald said, clapping his hands together to dispel the tention in the room, "since it pretty much dark outside now, why don't we go ahead and light the first candle of the _menorah_. Ronald, would you do the honors?"

Ron smiled and nodded to his father. Walking up to the table with the _chanukkiah_, Ron picked up the smaller candle and lit it with a nearby match.

"Since the light of the _menorah _can only be used to meditate on the Hanukkah story," Ron explained to the curious Yori standing next to him, "and not for doing things like reading or seeing by or whatever, we use this separate candle, called the _shamash_, to see by. I'm also going to use it to light the first candle of the _menorah_."

With that, Ron carefully tilted the _shamash _candle forward and lit the first _menorah _candle.

"Now, we'll let this candle burn for about half an hour," Ron continued to explain, "while we pray and meditate. Then, tomorrow, we'll put a fresh candle in and light two candles for the second day. And so forth."

"What do you pray?" Yori asked respectfully.

"Do you remember the prayer, son?" Donald asked. It was at that point that he noticed that Donald was to his right while Lonnie was to Yori's left.

"I sure do, Dad," Ron smiled. "So not the drama."

With that, Donald and Ronald took each other's hands while Ronald and Yori did the same. Lonnie then took Yori's free hand and all three Stoppables bowed their heads. Yori, realizing that she should do so, did the same.

With that, Ron began reciting the first of the three _Brachot _blessings traditionally recited after the lighting of the _menorah_.

For the first time since his parents arrived in Japan, Ron felt at peace. He squeezed Yori's hand lovingly to signify his contentedness, a gesture that was quickly and enthusiastically returned.

* * *

Kim giggled as she read Ron's email. Ron had always had a fear that his parents would not accept his love for Yori. Both Donald and Lonnie had looked forward to Ron marrying Kim someday, even when the two had been kids. Ron's decision to move to Japan to be with Yori had shocked his parents nearly as much as it had shocked Kim. In hindsight, it seemed everything had worked out in the end. Ron was with a woman who would love him for who he was, not for who she wanted him to be. Kim, despite her heartache, had learned a valuable lesson about herself and her expectations of others; she vowed to never treat another lover as callously as she had treated Ron. Kim felt blessed that she and Ron had later discussed their differences and returned to being best friends.

All of a sudden, Jim and Tim's voices rang through the fog of Kim's reverie.

"Kim! Come back in! We're about to open gifts!"

Kim shut down the email app on her smart phone and tucked the device back in her pocket. Wiping a tear from her eye, Kim smiled and turned back towards her grandmother's house.

* * *

Dr. James Possible stood up from the large Christmas tree in the living room of his mother, Nana Possible. He had a large, gift-wrapped package in his hands. "And this one is to Dr. Anne Possible from Shego."

James handed the package to Anne, who accepted it graciously. "Shego, you shouldn't have."

Shego, who was sitting on the other side of the room next to Anne's daughter, Kim Possible, on a love seat, smirked playfully. "I know I should not have. But I wanted to see your face when you saw it."

Anne smirked knowingly at Shego as she unwrapped the package. Anne's eyes went wide as she realized what she was holding.

"A Star Trek style medical tricorder?" Anne gasped, looking at Shego incredulously.

"I fronted the money for its development," Shego said, meeting Anne's gaze with a soft smile. "According to Kimmie's Nerdlinger, that can do a lot of the sort of scans that he can do through Kimmie's wristwatch. It's not as powerful, since it's doing everything itself rather than piggybacking onto the Nerdlinger's computers, but it should still be useful."

"This is incredible!" Anne breathed, examining the device in the box carefully. "Thank you!"

"You're very welcome," Shego purred, easing back into the love seat with a satisfied smile.

Kim smiled gently as she considered her family and especially Shego. Something about Shego just seemed... right. Kim felt good sitting next to her. She didn't want this evening to ever end.

"And this one is to Jim and Tim from Nana," James announced. He held up a fairly large gift-wrapped package.

"Hicka-bicka-boo?" Jim asked, turning to his twin brother.

"Hoosha!" Tim replied, smiling impishly at his twin brother.

"Thank you, Nana!" both boys said in unison as they walked over to accept the package from their father.

As Kim watched her little brothers, her smart phone chimed softly. Kim pulled it out and checked the email app.

Shego glanced at Kim and rose a brow. "Who is it?"

"Monique," Kim smiled, tapping a couple of keys on her touchscreen.

"Oh, how is Dark Chocolate doing?" Shego laughed, leaning in to see over Kim's shoulder.

Kim read for a moment and glanced back at Shego. "She's telling me about how her holiday went."

"Do tell," Shego purred, resting her head on Kim's shoulder. Kim breathed in pleasantly. God, it felt good to be so near Shego. And she smelled so good with her perfume on.

"Well, let's see," Kim smiled, looking back at her smartphone and beginning to read the email. "It looks like she and her family are already taking down their Christmas tree."

Anne rose a brow to that. "Every family is different, I know. But Christmas Day isn't even over with yet. Why is Monique's family taking down their tree tonight?"

"They also celebrate Kwanzaa," Kim replied, turning off her smartphone. "While some families keep the tree up during the observance of Kwanzaa, Monique's family take down the tree to make room for the _kinaras _and other Kwanzaa decorations."

"Kwanzaa is more of a celebration of African-American culture than a holiday," Shego added. "Each of the seven days between Christmas and New Year is dedicated to one of the seven principles of _Nguzo Saba_: Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith. They celebrate their culture with art, music, libations, historical discussions, candle-lighting rituals, and a feast. They're actually a lot of fun if you are ever invited by a family to participate."

Kim rose a brow to Shego after the elder woman was done speaking.

Shego shrugged. "I have a license to teach, Cupcake. You know that. Plus I did get to spend one Kwanzaa with a family when Doctor D's lair was in the Bermudas."

Kim smiled softly.

"Here, Kimmie, let me see your phone," Shego said, snatching the smartphone from Kim's hand.

"What are you doing?" Kim started to ask.

"Blowing Monique's mind," Shego laughed. She then started typing at the touchscreen. "Hey, Monique. It's Shego. _Habari Gani?_ I just wanted to wish you a Joyous Kwanzaa and a Happy New Year. Send."

Kim was just shaking her head mirthfully as Shego handed Kim back her phone.

* * *

"When did you do all of that shopping?" Kim laughed softly as she followed Shego into their bedroom for the night. Both women were carrying an armful of presents.

"You remember that time in Philadelphia where Nerdlinger was giving you that tour of city's landmarks?"

Kim paused to gawk incredulously at her traveling partner. "You've had all of those gifts since Philadelphia and I never found them?"

"You also never noticed how I insisted on carrying all of the luggage in while you went in to get the motel rooms set up," Shego smirked wickedly.

Kim rolled her eyes. "Shego the Great, master deceiver."

"And don't you ever forget it, Pumpkin," Shego replied, winking at the redheaded hero.

The two women had placed their presents in respective piles. Kim turned to watch Shego step into the attached half-bath and began stripping out of her top.

"I really appreciate how much you went out for my family today, Shego," Kim said honestly, as she turned her back to start unbuttoning her own top. "I mean, who would have thought that Professor Dementor had a marketed children's chemistry set that could be legally sold in the United States? The Tweebs got a huge kick out of that. And the brand new barbecue for my dad? He won't actually see it until he gets home and opens the UPS boxes, but I loved the look in his eyes."

"Seeing the look in your eyes as you saw the look in each of theirs made it all worthwhile for me," Shego pointed out. "Did you like what I got for you?"

"You mean the gold sequins gown with the flared shoulders and matching gloves and shoes?" Kim replied. "It's absolutely gorgeous! I love it! It kinda freaked my dad out, but he should have known better after that one black dress I wore on that date with Ron. What did you think of my gift?"

"The emerald stud choker with matching earrings?" Shego replied, smiling wistfully. "Princess, you know me too well. I'm going to be wearing that on New Year's Eve, in fact. Hey, could you come here a moment. I'm having trouble with one of these fasteners."

"Sure," Kim said, turning around. At this point, Kim's blouse was completely undone, exposing the tasteful bra underneath as she strode across the room and stepped into the doorway of the bathroom. Shego had met her at the doorway, her back facing the redhead.

"It's the back fastener to my slacks," Shego explained, pointing to the small of her back. "It seems to be stuck."

"Gotcha," Kim nodded, taking hold of the fastener. "So not the drama. I can... wait a minute, I was able to unfasten that fairly easily. Why was it so hard for you?"

"You also stepped into the doorway of the bathroom fairly easily, Cupcake," Shego replied, the smirk obvious in her voice. She then turned to face Kim. Shego's top was already on the floor of the bathroom, so Shego's modesty was being protected by a very beautiful black lace bra. "And without a second thought, too."

Kim's olive eyes met the mischievous gleam of Shego's emerald eyes and realization entered into Kim's mind. Kim slowly and carefully looked up above her.

Sure enough, a sprig of mistletoe hung playfully from the top doorjam.

"Shelly Go," Kim said in an accusatory tone, smirking at the verdant-hued beauty.

"Rochelle Godeaux," Shego whispered, placing gentle hands on Kim's shoulders.

"Huh?" Kim asked, blinking twice.

Shego sighed bemusedly and shook her head. "In my case, Shelly is short for Rochelle. My name is Rochelle Godeaux."

"That's beautiful," Kim breathed, her olive eyes now suddenly locked with Shego's emerald eyes. "Rochelle Godeaux. I wish you didn't hide it with such a simple mashup like Shego."

Shego snorted. "That was Hego's idea and sadly it stuck," she explained. "But Hego is a topic for a much different time and place. Right now, I see two beautiful, nearly topless women, looking at each other while standing under the mistletoe. How do you propose we handle this situation?"

Kim smirked playfully at Shego. She then began to sing. "I... saw Mommy... kissing Santa Claus... underneath the mistletoe last night!"

"Oh, really?" Shego said, raising a brow to the redhead.

At that point, Kim decided to throw all caution to the wind. She jumped and wrapped her arms around Shego's neck, planting a kiss firmly on the older woman's lips. Shego stumbled back a step from the force of the sudden glomp. Shego tried to return the kiss. At first, it was rather clumsily, since she had intended to be the instigator so as to keep control of the situation. She had not known what the kiss was going to be like, since she had never kissed a girl before and to the best of her knowledge neither had Kim. But as Shego felt the warmth of the kiss, she slowly melted into it, eventually wrapping her arms around Kim's torso.

Eventually, the two women broke their kiss and stared breathlessly into each other's eyes.

"Why...," Shego panted softly, her face blushed a rich green color. "Hello, Mommy."

Kim smirked playfully, despite her own crimson blush. "Hello there yourself, Santa," she replied just as softly.

Shego smiled softly and carefully brushed a red bang from Kim's eyes. "Are you okay, Princess?"

Kim nodded and buried her face in Shego's shoulder. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. I'm... I'm sorry I got carried away..."

Shego began to carefully stroke Kim's hair. "Kimmie, I know you've been holding yourself back for a while. I gave you an opening and you took it. I'm actually kinda proud of you."

Kim hugged onto Shego tightly, in spite of yourself. "Where do we stand with each other now? I mean, were you just giving me a Christmas present? Or were you...?"

Shego took a deep breath. Now came the hard part. "Honestly, Kimmie, I'm not sure. I don't want to hurt you. I've grown rather protective of you since Warmonga's first visit."

Kim tensed up, which made Shego tense up. Kim then looked up at Shego. "It... it sounds like you had one idea coming into this, but a different one now."

Shego nodded carefully. "You were right. I wanted to surprise you with a Christmas surprise. The kiss under the mistletoe seemed harmless enough. And I thought you would enjoy it."

Kim stepped back away from Shego and bowed her head, sighing. "But then I read too much into it."

"You _did _catch me with the intensity of the kiss," Shego agreed, touching her fingers to her lips.

Kim sat down on the bed and began to cry softly. "I'm sorry, Rochelle. I'm so sorry. I moved too fast. Too soon."

"Okay, it's time for Rochelle to take a back seat and for snarky Shego to come to the fore," Shego chided, stepping up to Kim. "First off, you're jumping to conclusions."

Kim blinked through her tears and looked up at Shego. "What?"

Shego folded her arms in front of her. "You heard me, Princess. You're jumping to conclusions. When did I say you moved too fast?"

"I...," Kim started to reply.

"That's right, I didn't," Shego said, interrupting Kim. "As a matter of fact, I remember explicitly saying that I was proud of you for jumping at the opportunity I had afforded you, even if it wasn't the opportunity I thought I was presenting."

Kim furrowed her brow at that point. "So, you're saying you're proud of me for callously taking something from you that you weren't prepared to give?"

Shego shook her head. "Once again, jumping to conclusions, Princess. One, you weren't callous about it. In fact, that was one of the best kisses I'd ever had in my life. And I've been with some guys who really knew how to kiss a woman to make her weak."

Kim blinked in surprise at that. "Seriously?"

"Like Motor Ed," Shego deadpanned, not budging on her stern stance. "Two, I never said I wasn't prepared to give it. I was simply caught by surprise by you taking it."

"The difference being?" Kim asked, a slight edge to her voice.

Shego took a deep breath and shifted to a softer tone. "The difference being that I was prepared to give it. I just thought I was going to be giving it on my terms, not yours."

Kim's expression softened somewhat at that point. "So I simply caught you by surprise by taking the initiative?"

Shego nodded. "Exactly. Remember, Pumpkin, I'm used to being in control, even if it meant making Doctor D think he was the one in control."

Kim nodded. "Good point. But you said you meant this to simply be a Christmas surprise."

Shego sat down next to Kim at that point and patted Kim's thigh gently. "I did. But you taking the initiative did something."

Kim cocked a brow. "And that was?"

Shego closed her eyes and nodded. "Like I said, I liked the kiss. I mean, really liked the kiss. A lot more than I expected to. It felt good, it tasted good. Heck, it even smelled good. Then again, you smell good, Kimmie. But that's neither here nor there."

Kim considered Shego's words a moment. "So, you really liked the kiss? And?"

Shego looked at Kim and smiled softly. "I've been easing into the whole idea of a relationship with you a lot more slowly than you have. I'm still kinda of apprehensive about it. It's a major change to suddenly like girls as well as guys."

Kim nodded knowingly to that.

"But that kiss," Shego admitted, sighing wistfully. "That kiss was something else. I could feel your passion in it. It coursed through me like a heatwave. And you know how I am about heat, Kimmie."

Kim chuckled softly on that note.

"I told you when we first started this road trip that I was interested in testing the waters of this relationship," Shego added, patting Kim's thigh again. "And I wasn't lying. I think today we took a good first step in the right direction."

"Both in our kiss and in our ability to communicate," Kim agreed. "Even though I tried to jack up the latter one."

Shego shook her head mirthfully and ruffled Kim's hair. "You stopped and listened when I asked you to," Shego said, standing up. "That's more important than anything else. You done did good tonight, kid."

Kim laughed, in spite of herself. "Thanks, Shego."

"Oh, and I have nothing against you calling me Rochelle," Shego added as she stepped towards the bathroom again. "I just needed Mean Ol' Shego to step out for a moment during that talk. That's all."

Kim smirked at Shego a moment before speaking again. "Well, then, Rochelle. May I point something out?"

Shego stopped and turned to look at Kim. "What's that, Princess?"

Kim stood up and strode over to Shego. "You're standing under the mistletoe again."

Shego blinked and glanced up to verify that she was indeed in the bathroom doorway, under the mistletoe. Shego smirked at the redhead hero knowingly.

"You evil little minx," Shego chuckled. "Fine, come here, then. I want us to end tonight on a positive note, anyway."

Shego took Kim into her arms and their lips met for a second time. This kiss was not as intense, as desperate. Shego understood why. Before, Kim knew she was taking a chance and that she had to seize the moment and deal with the consequences later. Now, the consequences had been dealt with. This kiss could be enjoyed slowly, softly, gently. After a few moments, Kim and Shego broke the kiss and then gazed into each other's eyes, their foreheads resting against each other.

"Are we good now?" Shego asked, reaching up to stroke Kim's cheek.

"Yes, we're good," Kim sighed happily. "We're more than good. Thank you, Rochelle."

"You're very welcome, Kimmie," Shego replied, kissing Kim on the forehead before turning away. "Now, let's get ready for bed. I'm still keen on keeping to our sides of the bed, but I think we handled a major roadblock in our relationship rather well tonight."

Kim nodded as she turned back to the bed. It was a California king sized bed, so there was plenty of room for the two women to spread out without violating each other's personal space. "Yeah, I think we did. By the way, you smell _wonderful _tonight, yourself. You're wearing that perfume you started the road trip with?"

"Yeah," Shego replied from inside of the bathroom, the door having been shut. "I know you prefer the stuff you bought for me in Santa Fe, but I wanted to indulge myself in something expensive tonight."

"Oh, I have nothing against your perfume," Kim corrected as she began to change into her pajamas. "I just happen to know that it's really expensive designer stuff. I've rescued the designer before, in fact, so I know the price he commands. So I wanted you to have less expensive stuff for everyday use. I love that you wore yours tonight. I could get addicted to that scent."

"Oh, okay," Shego replied, stepping out of the bathroom in her pajamas. She smiled softly at Kim. "Well, let's get ourselves to bed. We've got a big day with the family tomorrow."

Shego watched as Kim settled into her side of the bed and laid her head down. Shego carefully crawled onto her side of the bed and settled in herself. Shego smiled and closed her eyes, taking comfort in the soft breathing she could hear nearby. She somehow felt loved and protected with that breathing nearby. It was hard to explain.

* * *

The Kimmunicator screen flickered on and the image of Wade Load shimmered into being. The young African-American boy yawned, even though it was apparent he was still awake and working at his world-class computer systems.

"Hey, Kim, what's up?" Wade asked. Wade then paused. "Oh, Shego. Hey. Is everything okay? Is Kim okay?"

"Kimmie's okay to the best of my knowledge," Shego replied softly, in almost a whisper. "She's contentedly asleep in the bedroom. I'm in Nana Possible's living room now, sitting on the couch."

"Anything I could do you for?" Wade asked, raising a brow in concern. "You sound like you're worried about something."

"I am," Shego agreed. "Listen, Nerdlinger, I know I don't have a right to ask this. Especially if my concerns are valid. Super-especially if they're valid. But what we talk about tonight needs to stay between you and me. Please, I beg you."

"Woah, woah!" Wade said, raising his hands in gentle defense. "The mighty Shego shouldn't have to beg me for something like that. I should warn you that if I decide that Kim's life is in danger in any way, I'm immediately breaking my promise. But, for right now, you have my word that this is a confidential conversation."

"Thank you, Wade," Shego said, using Wade's real name for the first time ever. "You can do chemical scans through this thing, right?"

"I can do a full suite of scientific analysis scans through the Kimmunicator," Wade replied. "A chemical scan is but one of many things I can do."

"Do me a huge favor," Shego said, pulling a small bottle of perfume from her pocket. "Can you run a chemical scan on this stuff?"

"No sweat," Wade agreed. "Just spray a spritz on the Kimmunicator. I'll do the rest."

"Thanks, Wade," Shego said, spraying a small cloud of perfume on the Kimmunicator.

Wade began typing at his keyboard. "Hmmmm. Oh, wow, this is expensive stuff. I recognize the brand. I know the designer personally, in fact. Kim helped him out last year when Junior kidnapped him. It's the sort of stuff I'd expect you to be wearing, given your taste. Good taste, by the way."

Shego smiled softly. "Thanks, Wade. But that's not what I'm worried about. Kimmie made a comment to me just before bed that caused me concern. I..."

"Oh, my God," Wade gasped, looking at his computer screen and nearly turning pale. "Shego, how long have you been using this stuff?"

Shego sighed deeply. She was afraid of this. "I started wearing it a couple of months before I accidentally met Kimmie in that cabin in northern Colorado. There was a month and a half during the road trip where I didn't wear it. But I wore it tonight and Kimmie kissed me with a ferocity that was almost frightening. Our first kiss, too."

"I'm... I'm going to spend the rest of the night running scan studies," Wade said, clearly rattled. "Right now, I'm going to keep my promise, Shego. This is something you need to handle, anyway. But if what I'm seeing is true and you didn't know about it..."

"I'm going to kill Drew," Shego breathed. "With my bare hands. My pardon be damned."

Wade nodded knowingly, despite his obvious trepidation. "I'm going to finish these scans now and get back with you with the results. _Someone _is going to have to tell Kim, though."

"I know, Wade," Shego sighed. "I know. Thank you. As Kimmie would put it, you rock."

"Only doing what I do," Wade smiled apologetically. "Try to get some sleep. You're going to need it."

Shego nodded before turning the Kimmunicator off. She then bowed her head and started to cry softly.

"God damn it, Drew," Shego sobbed softly, almost a whisper. "What did you make me do?"

At the other end of the room, hidden in the shadow of the hallway, Anne and James stood silently. Anne's hands were to her mouth and she looked like she was in shock. James, on the other hand, stood by sternly, considering Shego carefully.

**[END LIGHTS OVER YULETIME]**


	6. The Great White Way

**SOC ROAD TRIP: THE GREAT WHITE WAY**

"May I be of any further assistance to you, Miss Godeaux?" the porter asked, standing by respectfully.

Shego took off her sunglasses and glanced around the hotel suite in which she was standing before nodding thoughtfully to herself. She seemed to be deep in thought. Finally, she turned to look at the porter.

"No, this will be fine for now," Shego replied softly. "Thank you."

"Thank you for choosing the Renaissance New York Times Square Hotel, Miss Godeaux," the porter replied. "If you need anything at all, please feel free to call the front desk. They will see to it that I or someone in my department sees to your needs."

Shego smirked softly to herself as she considered the porter. He was quite young and fairly slight of build, but extremely cute.

The porter noticed how she was looking at him and he blushed slightly.

"I will be sure to do that, thank you," Shego said. "Now, if you will excuse me, I need some time to get settled in and freshened up."

"Of... of course," the porter stammered. "Please enjoy your stay."

Shego's smug smile of satisfaction faded immediately as soon as she heard the door close behind her. At that point, Shego sighed and she strode over to a window. The window overlooked Times Square in New York City. At the juncture of Broadway and Seventh Avenue, stretching from West 42nd Street to West 47th Street, Time Square was a bustling pedestrian plaza even on the slowest of days.

Today was not the slowest of days, by any stretch of the imagination.

Today was New Year's Eve.

As Shego looked down 25 stories to the street below, she could already see that the obligatory congregation of partiers ready to rock in the New Year with Ryan Seacrest on behalf of Dick Clark was forming and growing strong. That was one of the reasons why she had chosen to fly in by helicopter. Shego was also grateful for the Renaissance Hotel honoring her annual reservation of one of its five suites for her. It was a tradition she had started five years ago when she started getting paid well by Doctor Drakken. She had feared that the hotel would not honor the standing reservation now that she was no longer a filthy rich villain. Instead, she was delighted to learn that they were offering the suite at a discount as gratitude for her work during the Lowardian Invasion.

Shego had intended to share the reservation with her traveling partner, Kim Possible. But the events at Christmas had put a kibosh on that idea.

* * *

_Dr. James Possible glared at Shego for several moments while his wife, Dr. Anne Possible, stood by with her hands on her mouth, speechless. What they had just overheard between Shego and Wade Load was... shocking. By both knew, or at least hoped, that Shego had not noticed them in the shadows of the hallway in Nana Possible's house yet. James was about to step forward to confront the allegedly reformed villain when the Kimmunicator in Shego's hands chimed._

_Shego glanced down at the Kimmunicator, sighed, and clicked the Kimmunicator on. "Hit me, Nerdlinger."_

"_Shego, I just ran some more scans and...," the voice of Kim's tech guru, Wade Load, began. Then he paused. "Oh, God. Shego. You've been crying. Should... should I call back in a little bit? To give you time...?"_

"_No," Shego said shakily, wiping a tear from her eyes. "Hit me with everything you've got. I can take it. And I swear if you tell anyone you saw me crying..."_

_James paused at that. He had encountered Shego numerous times in the past, mostly as the sidekick of his former peer in the scientific community, Drew Theodore P. Lipsky, aka Doctor Drakken. Even when she was transformed into a hero by Electronique's weaponized attitudinator and was forced to stay with the Possibles to hide from the evil version of Team Go, Shego had always been a font of self-confidence and resolute determination. Now, to see Shego so broken over the fact that she could have inadvertently hurt Kim was... humbling, to say the least. He turned to Anne, who simply shook her head and gently pulled James back into the shadow._

"_Don't worry," Wade's voice replied softly. "You can trust me to keep things like that mum. I've got lots of practice, after all."_

_Shego chuckled slightly, in spite of herself. It was a pained, self-deprecating chuckle. "Okay, what did you find, Short Round?"_

"_It appears that someone, I would like to assume Drakken, laced your perfume with pheromones," Wade explained._

"_The chemical that makes people go gaga over each other?" Shego asked. She'd read enough fiction to understand for what pheromones were used in most plots._

"_Pheromones are a complex category of biochemical substances used to communicate between members of the same species," Wade explained further. "There are types of pheromones for many types of stimuli, like alerting others of danger or marking one's own territory..."_

_Shego cocked a brow to that. "So, when a dog pees on a fire hydrant...?"_

"_It's releasing a type of pheromone to alert other dogs that the hydrant is part of its territory. Exactly. But the type of pheromone here is called a releaser pheromone. Unlike a sex pheromone, which simply triggers the need to mate, a releaser pheromone causes an immediate alteration in the behavior of the recipient."_

_Shego nodded. "So, basically, the pheromone has been altering Kimmie's behavior so that she falls in love with me."_

"_Considering that the pheromone has been somehow developed from your DNA, that seems very likely," Wade agreed. "But, listen. There's something..."_

"_There's no need, Wade," Shego interrupted. "It's obvious what's going on. Drew sent me in to undermine Kimmie's family and to destroy her sexual identity. He must have thought I was going to cooperate with him until I got him locked up. But that still doesn't change the fact that I've basically used a form of mind control on her."_

"_But Shego..."_

"_No buts, Wade," Shego said, now angry. "I finally find happiness in my life and the moment it happens I find out that it's fake and a product of a Drakken plot I'm an accomplice of. Kimmie deserves better than what I'm giving her. I need to leave before I destroy her completely."_

"_Shego, listen!" Wade started to chide. "Shego?"_

_Shego growled and turned off the Kimmunicator. She then walked over to the hall closet, grabbed her coat, and stormed out of the front door._

_Anne and James carefully stepped out of the shadow and looked gobsmacked at the closed front door. As they stood there, the Kimmunicator began to chime again. Suddenly, a weak voice called to them from upstairs._

"_Mom? Dad?" came the voice of their daughter, Kim Possible. She was standing at the top of the stairs in a pink robe and pink pajamas, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "What was that noise? Where's Rochelle?"_

_James started to open his mouth to say something, but found that he could not find his voice. Anne, instead of answering her daughter, walked over to the Kimmunicator on the coffee table, picked it up, and answered it._

"_Wade, dear?" Anne said at the clearly panicked young boy. "This is Kimmie's mother. Um, what's the sitch again? The whole sitch?"_

* * *

Shego leaned her head against the glass of the open-view window of her suite, shaking in confusion and rage.

"How could I have been so stupid?" Shego chided herself. "Stupid and callous and... gyah!"

Shego started to haul back to punch at the window. Then she realized that, with her green glow, she could easily shatter the glass and that would cause a scene she wasn't prepared to deal with at the moment. Gritting her teeth, she stepped back and sighed.

She glanced back out across the Times Square scenery. Next door was One Times Square, the top of which was where the legendary New Year's Eve Ball was located. Across the way was Times Square Studios, where Ryan Seacrest would be hosting the internationally broadcast celebration commemorating the dropping of said ball at the stroke of midnight. Various LED billboards, including the world famous Coca-Cola billboard and the ever-present NASDAQ MarketSite sign. There were various storefronts, such as Forever 21, The Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, The Disney Store, and M&M World, which were all setting up for the inevitable New Year's Eve blowout.

Shego noticed a poster in the Disney store. It was an advertisement for the Disney Princesses product line. In silver ball gowns were various Disney Princesses. One in particular caught Shego's eye. It was Ariel, the main character from _Disney's The Little Mermaid_. She was in human form, not mermaid form, in order to wear the gown. And she looked so much like a cartoon version of Kim.

Shego broke down crying at that point. She slumped to the ground and began to sob uncontrollably. The one good thing she had in her life and she had to walk away from it in order to save it. And it hurt Shego. A lot.

"Oh, God, Kimmie, what have I done to you?" Shego choked, pounding her fist angrily onto the floor. "What have I done?"

Shego did not know how long she had been crying. It could have been five minutes. It could have been five hours. Whatever the case was, Shego had been crying for a time when all of a sudden the doorbell chimed.

Confused, Shego rose to her feet, wiped away the tears, and strode to the door. When she opened the door, a porter stood there with a cart that held a bucket of ice and a bottle of wine.

"Room service," the porter smiled pleasantly.

Shego cocked a brow at that. "I didn't order room service."

The porter nodded thoughtfully. "An order was placed by another patron. It's been fully paid for. But the patron requested that the service be delivered here."

"And this mysterious patron wished to remain mysterious, I assume?" Shego asked. She already knew the answer.

"Yes, ma'am," the porter replied. Shego could tell that her edgy mood was beginning to crack the porter's unflappable shell.

"Well, I'm not in the mood for..." Shego started to say before she glanced down at the wine. She noticed something and bit her lip. She thought for a moment and then glanced back up at the porter. "Never mind. I'll accept the service. Thank you for your promptness and honesty."

"You deserve only the best, Miss Godeaux," the porter replied. He then blushed when he realized how that statement might have been taken. "Now, if you'll excuse me?"

"Of course," Shego said, smiling coyly at the simple pleasure of making him blush. "Thank you."

The porter nodded respectfully and quickly turned to walk away.

_He was so embarrassed he forgot to push the cart inside_, Shego chuckled. She pulled the cart inside of her suite, then lifted the bottle of wine out of the bucket of ice.

Just as Shego had suspected, not only was the wine the same brand of wine that she had drank on Thanksgiving, it was the _exact same year_. Shego sighed and shook her head.

"You can come out now, Kimmie," Shego sighed, glancing around the room.

"I'm surprised you didn't see me before now," came a familiar and comforting voice from a nearby corner. Shego turned to see her former traveling partner... her former enemy turned former friend turned almost lover... Kim Possible.

Kim was dressed in the gold sequins gown with flared shoulders, matching gloves, and matching shoes. It was an outfit that Shego had given to Kim for Christmas. Right before Shego had discovered her own duplicity.

Shego dropped the wine unceremoniously into the bucket of ice. "Well, as you probably saw, my mind was preoccupied with... other things."

"We need to talk, Rochelle," Kim said, softly, gently.

Shego shook her head. "What is there to talk about, Kim? I used a pheromone to make you fall in love with me. As far as I'm concerned, that makes me lower than dirt."

"If you will hear me out, Rochelle," Kim countered, her voice still soft and gentle, "I would like to offer some counterpoints to this situation."

Shego motioned to an easy chair that sat opposite of the couch. "I might as well hear you out. I mean, you took all the trouble to track me down, after all."

Kim sat down in the chair and smiled knowingly at Shego. "Rochelle, please. If you'd really wanted to hide from me, you wouldn't have come to the very spot you and I planned at being at for New Year's Eve. You would have gone somewhere else."

Shego sighed as she sat down on the couch. "Very true, Kimmie. Very true. But now you _have_ found me. Now what?"

"Now we talk," Kim replied, her voice suddenly taking a stern tone. "And now it's time for Kimmie-cub Cupcake Pumpkin Princess to take a back seat and for mean and sassy Autumn to come to the fore."

Shego blinked at that. Several times. She cocked her head one direction, then another. She then blinked a couple more times.

"What?" Kim asked, narrowing one eye at Shego.

"Autumn?" Shego asked, biting her lip to try to keep from laughing.

"You have your Shego persona to protect yourself and to present an aura of strength and no-nonsense," Kim replied. "Why can't I have one, too?"

"Would this Autumn be a criminal, too?" Shego couldn't help but ask with a grin.

"Only if she were allowed to steal little green hearts that beat themselves up for little mistakes," Kim smirked back.

"Kimmie," Shego sighed, bowing her head. "You're in love with me because of pheromones..."

"Pheromones that wore off over five days ago," Kim countered.

Shego blinked. Several times. Again. "What?"

"You see, Rochelle," Kim sighed, standing up and striding over to Shego, then standing before her like a parent chastising a child. "You jumped to conclusions, just like I did right after our first kiss. You didn't give Wade a chance to tell you the whole story about the pheromones."

Shego cocked her head slightly. "Then what is the rest of the story? It must be good, given that you're here and acting like you're trying to get me back on good terms with you."

"Releaser pheromones invoke immediate changes in the recipient's behavior," Kim explained, slowly kneeling down in front of Shego and taking the elder woman's hands into her own. "But they don't last that long, either. Once the pheromones are released into the air, they degrade completely within a day, if not sooner."

"That doesn't change the fact that I was using those pheromones, Pumpkin," Shego said.

"No, nor does it change the fact that you didn't know you were using them," Kim countered. "I'd like to think I know you well enough, Shego. If you really were part of this scheme, you wouldn't have turned to Wade. Nor would you have left once you found out the truth. Nor would you have even stopped using the perfume back in Santa Fe!"

Shego blinked again at that. The force with which Kim said that last sentence caught the ex-villain off guard.

"Really, Rochelle," Kim said, more soothingly. "The pheromones... and their effects... wear off within a day unless you keep wearing the perfume day in and day out. After I got you those cheaper perfumes in Santa Fe, you stopped using the pheromone-laced perfume for nearly two months. Did you use your perfume in Plymouth, on Thanksgiving?"

"No, I didn't," Shego replied thoughtfully. "I was using that one musk that you said you really liked."

"And guess what?" Kim said with a soft smile. "I still couldn't get enough of being around you."

Shego looked at Kim queerly at that point.

"I'll admit," Kim said, bowing her head. "The pheromones were probably the jumper cables that got this car started. You were wearing them when you found me in northern Colorado, right?"

"Yeah," Shego conceded. "Though they were probably washed off by the time I got to you, thanks to that rainstorm."

"Well, then, yeah, the pheromones were probably what prompted me to make that confession to you," Kim agreed. "They weren't too strong... just enough to get my mind going in the right direction."

"Your definition of _right direction_ needs a little refining, Princess," Shego said. Despite her words, she still found herself squeezing Kim's hands in search of reassurance.

Kim shook her head, but still returned a gentle squeeze. "No, it doesn't, Rochelle. Listen. Let me stick to the jumper cable analogy. The pheromones worked just like a jumper cable, providing a jolt to the engine that would eventually run our relationship. But the pheromones didn't keep that electricity going. We stopped using them for a while, right?"

"Right," Shego conceded, looking at Kim curiously.

"All of the rest of the time, my mind was working on its own, free of any chemical mind control," Kim continued. Her olive green eyes gazed up at Shego's emerald green eyes.

As those eyes met, Shego could feel a jolt of electricity pass between her and Kim. Shego could somehow _feel_ the passion in Kim's eyes. The sensation caused both women to shiver slightly.

"Did you feel that, Rochelle?" Kim asked, squeezing Shego's hands again. "We felt that _five days_ after your reviled pheromones wore off."

"And you were feeling... _we_ were feeling it the whole time I wasn't using the perfume," Shego said, as the pieces finally started falling into place in her mind.

"The pheromones may have jump started our engine," Kim repeated again, "but the engine was already there and only needed the jump start. Once it was started, we were traveling along on our own batteries. Our own gasoline."

"The pheromones just pushed us into our first kiss on Christmas," Shego said in an astonished whisper. "Something we would have done on our own eventually if we had continued at our natural pace."

"_Exactly_," Kim said, squeezing Shego's hands one more time. "Do you realize I cried for almost two days after you left?"

Shego closed her eyes and bowed her head in order to hide her own tears. "I'm so sorry, Kimmie. It was the worst decision I'd ever made in my life. You were the best thing to happen to my life and I tried to run away from you because I thought I'd destroyed that happiness."

"No," Kim whispered, scooting in closer to Shego. "You didn't destroy it. You saved it. We just had to find each other again. On our own terms. Without the perfume."

Shego breathed in a deep sigh before nodding solemnly. "So, what now?"

"I would like to pick up where we left off," Kim replied, laying her head on Shego's lap. "On Christmas night, having just enjoyed our first kiss, knowing that we had taken the first steps into a beautiful new relationship. Being near you makes me feel loved and protected."

"That's funny," Shego chuckled sardonically.

"How so?" Kim asked, looking at Shego queerly.

"I was thinking the exact same thing when I was listening to your breathing on Christmas night, right after you fell asleep," Shego admitted. "I've never felt like that before, so I didn't know how to deal with it. I've always protected myself and never relied on anyone else."

Kim smiled softly. "That's why I feel so protected around you," she said. "Because I know you're strong enough to protect yourself and to protect what is yours."

"Are you saying you're mine, Princess?" Shego asked.

"I am yours, my Prince Charming," Kim chuckled.

"I'd like to think of myself as the Prince Eric to your Princess Ariel," Shego smirked.

Kim sighed and shook her head at that. "Why is everyone always comparing me to that damned mermaid?" she chuckled.

Shego smiled and stood up, offering Kim her hand. Kim smiled and accepted Shego's hand before standing up.

"We have some time to kill before the ball drops, Pumpkin," Shego smiled. "Have you ate?"

Kim shook her head. "I spent so much time setting up this meeting that I haven't ate since yesterday."

"Kimmie, Kimmie, Kimmie," Shego sighed, rolling her eyes. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I have ideas," Kim smirked devilishly, lacing her fingers with Shego's fingers and drawing the ex-villain closer.

"Haha!" Shego laughed. "How about first we call down to room service for dinner. Then we can enjoy a few dances."

Kim gazed up at Shego and smiled softly. "I would love that. I feel so much better now that we had this talk."

"Well, you did kind of forced it," Shego laughed, causing Kim to glare playfully at her. "But I'm glad we did, too. I was killing myself over this. When I left, I didn't realize I was going to miss you at all, let alone as badly as I did."

"I know, Rochelle," Kim whispered, reaching up to stroke Shego's cheek. "Like you said, you've never relied on anyone before, so it must have been a whole new feeling for you. I'm sorry I hurt you so badly."

"It's not pain anymore, Kimmie," Shego smiled softly.

The two women stood there for several moments, gazing into each other's eyes. Each started to open their mouth, as if to say—or do—something. But they both blinked and giggled before pulling away from each other.

"Let me make the call for dinner," Shego said with a happy sigh. "Seafood sound good?"

"Divine, Angel," Kim replied, walking over to the nearby entertainment center. "I'll pick out a song for us to dance to."

Kim glanced through the collection of music in the digital menu and was pleasantly surprised at the variety of the selection. After several minutes' consideration, Kim finally selected a song and programmed it into the stereo.

"Yes, that will be wonderful, thank you," Shego said before hanging up the phone. She then turned to Kim, who was sauntering up to the ex-villain. "I think you're going to love dinner tonight."

"And I think you're going to love our first dance song," Kim purred, taking Shego's hand and guiding her out to the center of the floor.

Picking up a nearby remote control, Kim clicked it at the stereo and casually tossed it onto the nearby sofa. Kim then turned to draw Shego closer, lacing her left hand together with Shego's right as she draped her hand onto Shego's pleasantly curved hip. The two women began to move to the sound of a gentle piano wafting through the room. Soon, the voice of pop rock and Broadway star Debbie Gibson began to sing.

_I love you.  
I don't wanna hear a sad ballad tonight  
Amidst the stormy weather._

_I love you.  
We have run away for caresses in the night,  
Coming to life._

_It's not like we were handed everything on a silver platter.  
Nothing but two stray cats shaking in the dark,  
Raking through the leaves  
And looking for a place just a little bit better.  
Flickering our eyes in the thick of the night,  
Following the sparks..._

_Ooo-ooo-oooh!_

_I've got to tell you now, my darling,  
As we hold each other upon  
The creaking woodenboards that we rest our bodies on.  
If we just close our eyes together now,  
That will get us through somehow.  
That our love won't scar from  
Any sad song they sing or the troubles they bring._

_I love you.  
There are secrets into young and frail lovers  
Too young and frail to ever by touched._

_I love you.  
How could we ever hope to find each other  
The way we live today?_

_Dreaming of a love that wraps itself around everything.  
Dreaming of it only to have them clip our wings.  
All of the times that you ask,  
"Do you love me with all of your heart?"  
How, if I ever took my love away,  
It would just tear you apart._

_Ooo-ooo-oooh!_

_I've got to tell you now, my darling,  
As we hold each other upon  
The creaking woodenboards that we rest our bodies on.  
If we just close our eyes together now,  
That will get us through somehow.  
That our love won't scar from  
Any sad song they sing or the troubles they bring._

_If we just close our eyes together now,  
That will get us through somehow.  
That our love won't scar from  
Any sad song they sing or the troubles they bring._

_Mmm-mmm-mmmh!_

As the song drew to a close, Shego gazed down at Kim, who was in turn gazing up at Shego.

"Are you trying to say something, Princess?" Shego asked playfully.

"Maaaaaaybe?" Kim replied, just as playfully.

Shego reached up and gently brushed a lock of hair from Kim's eyes. "I think this last week has taught me that I was ready... am ready... to give this a more serious try," she admitted. "I missed you so badly it hurt."

"Me too," Kim sighed happily. "Me too."

Shego gently lifted Kim's chin and began to bring her lips down to meet the redhead's lips. Just as their lips brushed each other, the doorbell to the suite rang.

"Room service!" yelled the porter from the other side of the door.

"He can bite me," Shego growled playfully as she drank in the sight of Kim's emotion-filled eyes. "He can wait a few moments."

At that, Shego kissed Kim. Passionately. This time, the urgency wasn't driven by some artificial chemical or diabolical scheme. It was driven by Shego's need to have Kim Possible in her life. And Kim returned the kiss in earnest. It would be several minutes before the porter was finally allowed to deliver the dinner.

* * *

"Blast it," Wade Load swore under his breath. He had been trying to contact Kim for almost an hour now and she wasn't responding. Her Kimmunicator was turned off.

Which means Kim must have succeeded in her mission to find Shego and talk to her.

That part, in and of itself, made Wade happy. He didn't like seeing Kim hurt and knowing that she could reconcile with the woman that she loved made him feel more at ease.

At least, it _would_ make him feel more at ease if he didn't have a situation that needed _immediate _attention.

Switching tactics, Wade dialed up the other Kimmunicator. He hoped that it would be on.

"Hey, Ron? Hey! Yay, you're Kimmunicator is on! Fantastic! Listen, bud, I need you, Rufus, and Yori. I can't reach Kim and Shego, otherwise I'd be telling them this directly."

"Hey, the Ron-man is always ready for action, Wade," Ron's voice replied. "You know that, bro. So, what's the sitch?"

Wade took a deep breath. "Drakken just escaped prison, Ron. With the help of Motor Ed. And I think they may be after Kim and Shego as we speak."

**[END THE GREAT WHITE WAY]**


	7. The Shadow of Marmota Monax

**SOC ROAD TRIP: THE SHADOW OF MARMOTA MONAX**

"Here we are, Princess," Shego smiled as she drove down the highway in her rental convertible, passing a city limits sign. The air was chilly outside, so she had the top up and the heater on. She reached over and patted the beautiful redhead who was asleep in the passenger seat on the thigh. "We're in Springfield."

Kim roused slightly from her slumber to gaze out of the window groggily. She blinked a couple of times then rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Springfield?" she yawned. "Oh, can we stop off and see Mr. Burns? I've been meaning to kick that man in the teeth for everything he does. Why do all of the aristocratic jackhole villains have to be named Monty?"

Shego looked at Kim queerly for several moments, before trying to stifle a laugh. She then shook her head bemusedly. "No, Kimmie. Not the Simpsons' hometown. This is Springfield, Missouri. We left Tennessee yesterday, remember?"

"Oh," Kim mumbled as she leaned over from the window and into Shego. She snuggled against the ex-villainess before adding, "Yeah."

Shego chuckled and ruffled her companion's long, beautiful red hair. "Come on, Pumpkin. Wake up. It's after 8 o'clock. Tell ya what. How about we stop off at a Dunkin' Donuts and grab some breakfast and coffee before heading on to our destination?"

"Dunkin' Donuts is nice," Kim agreed. She turned her face to nuzzle Shego's arm affectionately.

Shego glanced down and considered Kim for a moment before sneaking in a slight smile and turning her attention back to the road. The road trip had been an incredible journey so far. Never in a million years had Shego thought she would fall in love with a woman in general, let alone the impossibly persistent pain in the ass that was Kim Possible. But here she was, driving down the road, with the delicious looking 19 year old snuggled up next to her. And she was loving it.

It had also been a difficult journey. First there was the heartache that each of them had felt with their respective male lovers. Kim had inadvertently driven off the Buffoon with her obsessive need for him to keep up with her. And Shego had felt driven off from Drakken by his obsessive need to be... well... himself. When Shego accidentally stumbled onto Kim in the middle of a thunderstorm in the back woods of Colorado, Kim suddenly confessed to Shego. Shego chose to explore her options in that light, given that she desperately needed a break from the rapidly disintegrating relationship she had with Drakken. So they planned out a road trip to take together.

Of course, Drakken didn't take that well. The moron never took _anything_ that didn't go his way well. But Shego hadn't expected Drakken to climb into his latest invention, a Diablo-style powered armor suit, and _attack Shego with it_. Shego trapped Drakken in the suit, called in Global Justice, and fled to Kim's house for safety.

From there, it had been a slow and steady rise from having hit bottom to where the two of them were now. They had driven south from Middleton, hitting Las Vegas before going to Santa Fe, then across Texas to Corpus Christi before flying out to Boston. They visited Plymouth before driving south along the Eastern Seaboard, finally arriving in Florida for Christmas with Nana Possible. Things were almost ruined when Shego (with Wade Load's help) discovered that Kim's behavior had been influenced by pheromones that were in Shego's perfume. But Kim found Shego in New York City on New Year's Eve and they talked things through.

Now Kim and Shego were officially an item.

And Shego couldn't have been happier.

It wasn't some spectacular kiss under the fireworks of the New Year cheer or anything like that. For that matter, their first kiss had actually been under the mistletoe on Christmas Night in Nana's house. Subconsciously, Shego touched her lips with her fingertips... she could still _taste_ that kiss on her lips. It sent shivers down her spine.

"You okay, Rochelle?" Kim asked softly, looking up at Shego.

Shego blinked out of her reverie and glanced down at Kim. "Oh, sorry, Kimmie. I was... remembering our first kiss."

Kim smiled like a mischievous kitten and purred softly as she snuggled into Shego again. "Yeah, that one was so a wow moment, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was," Shego grinned. She saw an exit with a doughnut shop sign and switched lanes to take it.

A comfortable silence fell between the two women as Shego turned onto the local street towards the doughnut shop. It allowed Shego to drift back into her thoughts. Yes, indeed, that first kiss (and the second one that followed shortly thereafter) had been powerful. Kim had abandoned all caution to take the chance of a lifetime. She had completely shed her guard and opened herself to Shego in that one, important moment. Shego had nearly destroyed that trust later that night when she left Kim behind... ostensibly to save the hero from Shego's duplicity in the pheromone scare. But Kim had proven herself the stronger woman by _continuing_ to extend Shego that trust and talk things through with her a week later.

The two Christmas kisses had been powerful. Life-changing, in fact. But the third kiss—the one they shared on New Year's Eve after they had hashed over their issues with the pheromone scare—had been profoundly different. It had been...

It had been emotional. Full of love. That was what Shego was trying to grasp. The Christmas kisses had been lustful, driven as much by the pheromones as by Kim's attraction to Shego. The New Year's Eve kiss had instead been full of love. Full of mutual respect and emotional affection between the two women.

Perhaps that was why that kiss had lasted several minutes rather than several moments. Perhaps that's why the porter had to wait out in the hallway for several minutes until they were done with the kiss. Perhaps that was why the two of them had spent the rest of the evening in the hotel room, dancing to one romantic song after another, sipping on wine and then finally snuggling on the sofa to watch the ball drop through their hotel window.

Perhaps that was why they had fallen asleep in each other's arms for the first time for a reason other than to keep Kim warm that night.

No, nothing more than that happened that night. It was still too soon. Both Kim and Shego knew that. Then again, they both knew that neither of them really knew what to do even if they did decide to go that far. Certainly, Shego was more experienced sexually than Kim... Shego had enjoyed plenty of lovers throughout her criminal career, including Drakken (sadly enough), whereas Kim had only had make-out sessions with the Buffoon. But that didn't mean that Shego knew how to make love to a _woman_.

Shego bit her bottom lip and tried not to chuckle to herself over the next thought. She failed.

"Dare I ask?" Kim asked, smiling softly at Shego.

"I was just thinking that we may have to pick up some research material in Kansas City once we get there," Shego replied, snorting softly in her attempt to curb her chuckling.

Kim blinked and looked at Shego queerly for a moment. Then her train of thought caught up with Shego's. "Oh. Ooooohhhhh!"

"Yeah," Shego said, smirking at the beautiful redhead.

"Wow, Rochelle," Kim drawled with a seductive, half-lidded look in her eyes. "Thinking dirty thoughts about me now, are you?"

"Have you looked at yourself in a mirror, Pumpkin?" Shego said, finally allowing herself to laugh. She turned into a parking lot, where she saw the doughnut shop sitting in the middle of a strip mall. "I'm surprised you don't have dirty thoughts about yourself."

"I can't have dirty thoughts about myself," Kim replied, smirking slightly. "Not while sitting in this car. I can no longer look at myself while I'm with you than I can look at the flame of a candle while I'm holding it up to the sun."

Shego pulled into a parking spot in front of the doughnut shop and turned to look at Kim. "Wow, Kimmie! Laying it on a bit thick, aren't we?"

"Thick and long and hard and...," Kim joked, thrusting a finger through a loop she'd formed with her other hand while winking playfully at Shego.

Shego jammed the gearstick into Park and growled. "Okay, yes, I'm horny. I admit it. Now get out of the car. It's breakfast time."

"Ma'am! Yes, ma'am!" Kim saluted.

Kim jumped out of the car, laughing, before Shego could pounce on the redhead.

* * *

Kim sat in the passenger seat of the convertible, sipping contentedly on her coffee. Shego was behind the wheel, driving along and munching on a chocolate creme-filled doughnut.

"You're going to be bouncing off of the walls later, you know that, Rochelle?" Kim said playfully to the beautiful, pale-skinned woman.

"Ya think?" Shego laughed. "Yeah, I don't usually indulge in something so unhealthy. But, darn it, if I can't have sex, I'll at least have sugar. Chocolate, no less."

Kim chuckled at that. "Fair enough on _that_ front. By the way, Happy Groundhog Day."

Shego looked at Kim weirdly. "Really? You're going to treat Groundhog Day like a holiday?"

"Why not?" Kim shrugged. "I mean, the Pennsylvania Dutch do. So why not me?"

"Because you're more Irish than you are Dutch?" Shego ventured.

Kim stuck her tongue out at Shego on that one. "No, seriously, the folklore behind Groundhog Day goes all the way back to ancient Europe, even though Groundhog Day itself didn't really start until around the 18th century."

Shego rose a brow to that. "Paying attention in History class for once, Pumpkin?"

"Haha!" Kim laughed sarcastically. "Yes, I was. Some theorists believe that someone invented the concept of the groundhog checking its shadow to moderate between two traditions."

"Huh?" Shego asked, looking at Kim curiously.

"Some people in ancient Europe felt that Spring should start at Imbolc, the Gaelic festival for Springtime," Kim explained. "Others wanted to be more scientific about it and say that Spring didn't start until the Vernal Equinox. Well, some smartass decided that a sacred animal, back then either a badger or a bear, would decide which was which from year to year. If the animal saw its shadow, the Vernal Equinox people won the contest and Spring wouldn't start for six weeks. If it didn't, then the Imbolc people won and Spring started right then."

Shego nodded, understanding. "And the tradition carried over to the United States, where they decided that the groundhog was the sacred animal of choice. Now I understand."

"If it makes you feel any better," Kim grinned knowingly. "It's also Candlemas today."

"The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple?" Shego asked, shaking his head. "Princess, you know I'm not Catholic."

"Just offering the option," Kim grinned and shrugged. She then looked out the window and blinked. "Wait, where are we?"

Shego parked the car and smiled. "I thought I'd swing by here while we were in Springfield. I think you'll like it here."

"Bass Pro Shop?" Kim asked curiously. "You're taking me into a fishing store?"

"Kimmie," Shego said, smiling smugly, "the store isn't that big just because it's a simple fishing store. Come on. You'll love it."

"Um, okay," Kim breathed, opening her door as Shego stepped out of her door.

* * *

"Seriously, dude," the short, broad-shouldered man with a mullet and a thick mustache sighed as he walked along with his companion. "People can so see you."

The man's companion spun and pointed a finger at him. "Don't be such a Negative Nancy, Eddie. This disguise is infallible!"

Eddie Lipsky, or rather, the villain known to the world as Motor Ed, stopped to consider his cousin. Drew Theodore P. Lipsky, the villain known to the world as Doctor Drakken, posed dramatically in his khaki shorts, Hawaiian-style shirt, dark glasses, and flip-flop sandals. His dark raven hair was still combed back in a ponytail. His skin was still blue.

Motor Ed slapped a hand over his eyes and dragged it down his face. "Dude, it's in the middle of fraggin' winter!"

"That's what makes the disguise so infallible!" Drakken pointed out. "No one would ever suspect someone with as supreme of an intelligence as mine to be wearing summer clothes in the middle of winter. Trust me, Eddie, it's fool-proof!"

Motor Ed looked around. People were walking by and looking at the two villains suspiciously, granting them wide berth. Motor Ed just rolled his eyes and turned back to Drakken. "Seriously, though. How do you even know she's here?"

"The tracking bug I planted on her before she... she betrayed me...," Drakken began to explain, pausing to seethe visibly at the memory of that night, "...indicates that she's Springfield. And if I know Shego, she's going to come here. She may be a lazy, good-for-nothing, self-indulgent bitch, but...,"

* * *

"...I also love the outdoors and camping," Shego proclaimed, presenting her surrounding to Kim with a flourish.

Kim looked around at her surroundings. It was incredible. Kim had been expected a dark, dank store, like a hillbilly version of a convenience store with nothing but fishing poles, worms, and beer. She didn't expect anything like what she was seeing here. Not just fishing supplies, but all sorts of outdoor activity supplies. In a store the size of a giant department store. Department stores Kim could do. Especially one that looked as alive and as lively as this one. There was stuffed animals everywhere. And cascading waterfalls and fountains.

THERE WAS LIVE FISH IN THE PONDS!

Kim leaned into the railing of the miniature bridge the two women were standing on and stared down into the water. The bass fish swimming in the water flittered about, kicking their tails and turning on a dime.

"This is so neat!" Kim breathed, still staring into the water.

Two strong yet gentle hands came to rest on Kim's shoulders, drawing the redhead's attention. She turned to look at the beautiful raven-haired woman standing behind her. Olive eyes met emerald eyes as Shego smiled.

"You think _that's_ neat?" Shego teased. "You should see the buffet restaurant upstairs. It has one of the largest and most beautiful fish tanks you'll see anywhere. And, yes, we're eating lunch there today. The food is to die for."

"Spankin'!" Kim said, her face beaming. She spun around, as if looking for something. "Hey, do they have a clothing department?"

Shego laughed. "I doubt very seriously you're going to find the latest Club Banana fashions there, but yeah, there's a clothing department."

"Oh, I know that they're going to focus on stuff for the outdoorsman," Kim agreed. "That's what I'm thinking. New mission clothes and whatnot."

The smile faded from Shego's face and she turned away slightly.

Kim noticed it. She looked at Shego curiously. "Rochelle? What's wrong?"

Shego took in a deep breath and faked her best smile. "Nothing, Pumpkin. It's okay."

Kim crossed her arms and tapped her fingers. "Rochelle, I'm a woman, too. I've pulled the Nothing-Dear card on Ron more times than I can count. So I know what it really means. Now, you want to try being honest with me this time?"

Shego sighed. "It's just... yeah. The missions. That's how you and I met. You've known the Bu... you've known Ron since you were both little kids. That relationship should have by all rights worked out like the classic fairy tale ending. But it didn't. If you go back on missions, you'll be spending time with Ron again. And what if you meet another villain who can keep up with you..."

Kim's frown softened considerably. "First of all, thank you for being honest with me about your feelings. That means a lot to me. More than you can possibly know. Ron wasn't. He got scared and ran. He and I may be best friends again, but I won't ever be able to trust him with my heart again, even if I can't blame him for what he did. Second of all, name me one villain in my rogue's gallery who can keep up with either one of us."

Shego considered that question for a moment and started counting on her fingers. She would pause occasionally, as if deep in thought. Then she would go back to counting on her fingers. Kim watched this for several moments, watching curiously.

Finally Shego responded. "No one. There isn't anyone in our league."

"I dunno," Kim smirked. "Frugal Lucre comes pretty close."

Shego looked at Kim with astonished disbelief. After a moment, they both started laughing hysterically.

"Rochelle," Kim said soothingly as they both calmed down from their laughter, "you're not going to lose me. Not like that. My heart is yours now. In fact, I was kinda wondering if you'd like to be my new mission partner."

"Me?" Shego breathed, losing her breath for a moment. "Why me, Pumpkin? You already have Ron. I mean, he's easy to pick on, but he always seemed to pull through for you. And I don't want you to dump him just because I'm jealous..."

Kim nodded. "He always has pulled through for me. But he's with Yori now. The two of them make an even better team than he and I did, believe it or not. Wade's been sending them out on missions while you and I have been taking our break."

Shego blinked at that. "He has?"

Kim laughed. "Someone has to cover for us. I mean, what do you think all of the villains would think if they suddenly heard that I'd decided to tell the whole world to go screw itself and took a vacation?"

Shego smirked at that. "I know I'd try to push the Cyclops as close to the edge of her sanity as I possibly could."

Kim nodded knowingly, understanding that Shego was speaking of Dr. Elizabeth Director, leader of Global Justice. "I imagine all of the villains would. So Wade's been sending out Ron and Yori in my stead. In _our_ stead, if you're interested."

Shego nodded and thought for a moment. "Let me sleep on it, Kimmie. I mean, anything to be able to spend more time with you. But you have to understand... I did the whole hero thing before. I... I have my reasons for not wanting to do it again."

Kim tried to lock down the look of disappointment that she knew must have crept across her face. "I understand. Well, as well as anyone who hasn't walked a mile in your shoes, anyway. I'm keeping the invite open, though."

"Thanks, Kimmie," Shego said, reaching over to brush a lock of red hair from the hero's face. "That means a lot to me."

With that, she leaned in and kissed Kim softly. Before she could pull back out, though, Kim wrapped her arm around Shego's neck and planted a deeper kiss on her girlfriend.

The kiss didn't last for more than a moment or two. But it conveyed all of the feelings that Kim wanted it to convey.

* * *

On a nearby balcony, Drakken was seething visibly and audibly at the sight he saw on the ground floor below.

"Did... did you see that, Eddie?!" Drakken all but shrieked. "She kissed Possible! She _kissed_ her! She dumped me for Possible!"

"I could have told you that a long time ago, dude," Motor Ed replied, pulling an earbud out of his ear and tucking a tiny device back into his sleeveless shirt. "Seriously, did you never see the glow on Shego's face anytime she fought Kim?"

Drakken didn't respond for several moments. At least, not in any way that could be considered intelligible by any sane person. He stood there and seethed and seethed and seethed, mumbling incoherent obscenities as he convulsed like a stiff lumber board in a wind tunnel. Finally, he calmed down enough to look at Motor Ed angrily.

"Did you at least find out where they were heading next?"

"Dude, Kim said something about clothing," Motor Ed replied.

"Of course," Drakken said, suddenly so calm as to scare Motor Ed. "Possible has always been fashion conscious. It's only natural that a teenage girl like her would gravitate to that part of the store. Come, Eddie. We're going to catch Shego and Possible by surprise there."

Drakken then took off along the balcony. Motor Ed simply stood there and crossed his arms, watching as Kim and Shego finished crossing the miniature bridge below and continued on deeper into the store. After a moment, Drakken returned.

"Um, do you know which way the clothing department actually is?" Drakken asked meekly.

Motor Ed sighed, grabbed Drakken's arm, and dragged him off in the opposite direction Drakken had originally left.

* * *

Kim held up a pair of khaki pants and showed them to Shego. "What about these?"

Shego shook her head. "You know I prefer darker clothes, Pumpkin."

Kim and Shego were in the racks of the outdoor sports wear section of Bass Pro Shop, looking at various sports wear.

Kim grinned mischievously and held up a black, sleeveless, legless diving suit. "How about this, my dear?"

Shego's eyes went wide. "Kimmie! There would not be a single person attracted to women capable of keeping their hands off of me if I wore something like that!"

"I know," Kim drawled seductively.

"Oy vie!" Shego breathed, rolling her eyes. "Yes, I'm sexy and I know it. But I thought we were picking out _mission clothes_."

"I _am_ on a mission," Kim replied playfully, hugging the diving suit to her body.

"Haha!" Shego laughed. "Come on, Possible, you're doing that Let's-Tease-Shego thing again."

"My bad," Kim said, smiling and shrugging before putting the diving suit back on the rack. "Going back to Let's-Be-Serious mode."

Kim turned back to the racks and considered things for a moment. "Ah-hah!"

Shego crossed her arms and waited for the redhead to finish digging through the racks.

Kim suddenly spun around and presented two pieces of clothing. One was a pair of cargo pants with a dark green urban camouflage pattern on it. The other was a black hoodie sweatshirt.

Shego nodded appreciatively. "We're getting closer. I love the color scheme. The cargo pants reminds me of your old style a little too much, though. Nothing personal, pumpkin, but that style is a few years old now. We need something a bit here and now."

"True," Kim nodded. She then sighed and put the clothes back on the rack. "At least it's food for thought. We can draw ideas today and then go to Monique later with the ideas."

"She's the one who decked you and Ron out, right?" Shego asked. "I think it's a good idea, then."

"Let's go over here and see what they have on this rack," Kim suggested, running off to another aisle.

Shego chuckled and shook her head as she followed Kim.

* * *

Behind one of the racks, Drakken huddled down. He couldn't help but giggle hysterically.

"Soon, Shego, very soon," he mumbled gleefully, "you will be made to pay for every ounce of pain, every ounce of humiliation, every ounce of defeat that I have felt over the last five years. If I had known you were in league with the Possible before now, your days would have ended long ago. Are you ready, Eddie?"

Drakken turned to Motor Ed, who was standing behind him. Motor Ed held a large device in his hands. It appeared much like a military-style bazooka only with laser lenses rather than a ballistic barrel. Motor Ed was looking at it curiously, turning it over one direction then another before shaking it violently.

"Be careful with that!" Drakken hissed angrily. "That's sensitive electronic equipment!"

"Oh, right," Motor Ed replied, putting the device in its upright position. "Sorry, dude. Seriously, though, how do you turn it on?"

"The large red button turns it on," Drakken said, sighing. "Then you pull the trigger by the hand grip to fire it."

"Like this?" Motor Ed asked, clicking the button and pulling the trigger while the device was still cradled in his arms. It wasn't even aimed yet.

Drakken shrieked as the device fired, sending a bright blue beam over the clothes rack they were hiding behind.

* * *

Kim was about to run around the end of a clothes rack when a bright blue beam struck the mannequin on display there. The mannequin's natural colors faded, first turning an ice blue before turning black and then a bright red. Just as it turned bright red, the mannequin exploded violently, showering Kim and everything nearby with pieces of plastic and metal.

"What the deuce!" Kim snapped, covering her eyes with her arms to protect herself from the plastic shrapnel.

Shego ran up as the shrapnel fell to the floor. She spun Kim around and looked at her up and down. She jerked Kim's arms off of her eyes, grabbed one of the arms, and shoved a sleeve up her arm.

"Ro... Rochelle?"

"Shhh, Kimmie," Shego hissed, looking up and down Kim's forearm. "Bleeding. I was afraid of that. We're going to get some first aid on these arms as soon as I'm done kicking someone's tail from here to Timbuktu and back."

Shego then turned in the direction from whence the blast had came. Shego sneered as Kim heard an all-too-familiar voice.

"Eddie, you idiot!" the voice shrieked. "We were supposed catch Shego by surprise with that blast!"

"Oops," came a mumbled response. "Sorry, dude."

"Drakken and Motor Ed?" Kim breathed. "After _you_?"

"Doesn't surprise me," Shego replied. "After what I did to him." She then dropped into a battle stance and lit her fists up with green plasma before shouting out towards the voices. "Hey! Drewbie! I know it's asking a bit much from a little boy like you, but... you want to come out here and face me like a man?"

"And get blasted in the face with some plasma? I think not! Come on, Eddie, let's get out of here."

Shego stood up and doused her flames, crossing her arms. "You know, Drewbie, I told you a year ago that that inverse polarity matter cannon wasn't a good idea... just like that stupid-lame pheromone idea."

"IT WAS NOT STUPID-LAME!" Drakken shrieked horrifically, causing Kim to wince. "And evidence seems to indicate that the pheromone idea ACTUALLY WORKED!"

Kim looked curiously at Shego, who was now smirking smugly to herself.

Drakken came storming out from behind the clothes rack. Motor Ed was right behind him, trying to pull Drakken back by the tail of his shirt.

"But, the thing is, the pheromones were supposed to only work on Possible!" Drakken growled, clearly agitated. "You were _supposed_ to let Possible fall in love with you and then lure her into a life of crime, where we could frame her and have her locked away for life, leaving us free to carry on with other nefarious schemes! But, no! You had to go and let the pheromones affect you too! Which... I'm going to have to go back over my notes and figure out how that happened, since the pheromones were specifically designed to affect only Possible."

Shego chuckled and shook her head. She glanced around and saw all of the people gathering about, watching from a distance. Several of them were security guards. _This is too perfect, _she thought to herself honestly.

Shego then turned back to Drakken. "Except that the pheromones _didn't _affect me, Drewbie."

"Then why did you willingly kiss Possible over there by the...," Drakken started to ask. Then his face lit up. "Oh! I get it! You're luring her in! Leading her on! This is perfect! Soon the world will fall to me once Possible is out of the way."

"You've several problems, though," Shego pointed out.

"Well, yes, I will need to install an administrative structure capable of handling the bureaucratic needs of ruling a whole planet, of course," Drakken said absently. "And a secret service force capable of enforcing my rule against insurrection. I have taken that into account and I have an account with HenchCo for just that reason. Plus..."

"No," Shego corrected, rolling her eyes. Every moment of this conversation was reminding her as to why her life was so much better now. "First problem is that Possible is standing right here, listening to every word dripping out of your idiotic mouth."

Kim couldn't help but smile at that.

"Bah, she can be privvy to my plans," Drakken snapped, waving his hand dismissively. "She always seems to be, anyway. That still won't stop us from defeating her."

"Second problem is that the reason I gave her that kiss over on the bridge is because I love her," Shego added.

"That can worked around, too," Drakken replied. "You see, I... wait, what?"

"Kimmie respects me for who I am," Shego pointed out. "She likes spending time with me and giving me attention. We enjoy a lot of the same things and we can talk shop a lot. We challenge each other in ways that make us grow as people. And she sure as all get-out doesn't strike me down with a giant robot suit."

To Shego's satisfaction, that statement was rewarded with a great deal of agitated murmuring from within the gathering crowd. Drakken stood there, glancing around nervously.

"Princess? Would you mind pulling that picture up on your wristwatch?"

Kim looked at Shego curiously. "Are you sure, babe?"

Shego smirked. "Beyond a doubt." Then she turned to the crowd. "Okay, boys and girls. If any of you are sensitive to the sort of stuff you'd see in a Victoria's Secret catalog, you might want to look away."

Kim raised up her wristwatch and pressed a few buttons. After a moment, a voice piped up.

"Hey, Kim! What can I do for you?"

"Hey, Wade," Kim replied. "Could you pull up that photo of Shego we took on Halloween and project it holographically through the Kimmunicator?"

"Sure thing, Kim," Wade Load's voice replied. "Just give me a little bit and... there, coming right up!"

Kim reared her head back as a photograph of what was presumably Shego projected upwards into the air above Kim and displayed like a holographic image. The image depicted Shego from about the base of her chin to just below her waist. She still wore black pants but she was topless, her breasts covered by a beautiful lacy black bra. What the surrounding crowd quickly discovered was that the bra was not the point of interest.

It was the purplish-green bruise that ran from the base of Shego's neck, down her right side, and into her pants that was the point of interest.

"Mind you," Shego said, pointing at the picture as she glared at Drakken. "You've already been prosecuted and sentenced for doing that to me. You haven't _served out_ your sentence yet, but you've been sentenced. But the fact still remains that you _did_ do that to me. Just because I told you I wanted to go on a road trip with Kimmie. I hadn't even fallen in love with her yet!"

Now there was definitely a measure of agitated murmurings amongst the gathered crowd.

"Well, um, you see, uh, Shego...," Drakken stammered, shrinking into a slouch as he tented his fingertips. "I, um, you made me very, very angry that day. I had the most wonderful evil scheme and..."

"I told you I wasn't interested in throwing away my global pardon over something like that," Shego added. "So you threw a temper tantrum, got in your little robot suit, and struck at me with its full strength!"

"YOU SURVIVED BEING THROWN INTO AN ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION TOWER!" Drakken shrieked. Kim winced at that one. "HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW YOU'D BRUISE SO EASILY OVER BEING PUNCHED?"

Shego sighed. "One thing good that's come out of all of this is that I now know who I can trust. Who I can love. I thought I loved you, Drew. It took me four years to open up to you. It took you only four months to make it the worst mistake of my life."

"Shego...," Drakken breathed, suddenly realizing what Shego was saying.

"I don't love you anymore, Drew," Shego said, reaching over and lacing her fingers with Kim's. "I love Kimmie now."

"But...," Drakken said, motioning to Kim with both hands. "Possible is... is a girl!"

"Yes, she is indeed a _woman_," Shego agreed. "That part of our relationship is something we're still getting used to, I'll admit. But she still admires me, cherishes me, challenges me... and _protects_ me."

Drakken's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Not to mention you just confessed to your part in the pheromones scheme," Motor Ed added. "Seriously, dude."

"Bah! I'm not worried about that," Drakken said. "What are the security guards going to do about that? Arrest me?"

"No, but I can."

Without warning, Motor Ed grabbed Drakken by the back of his neck and slammed Drakken face first into the floor.

"Eddie! What in the world?!" Drakken shrieked.

"You think I don't remember what my dad did to my mom? Your aunt?" Motor Ed seethed, his eyes livid. "I vowed I would never treat a woman like Dad treated Mom. But here you are, flying off the handle over something as simple as a road trip and causing _that_ sort of damage?" To emphasize his point, Motor Ed pointed at the holographic image still floating above Kim. "Dude, seriously. You're under arrest for the use of a controlled substance towards inducing an individual to commit a crime against his or her will. You have the right to remain silent..."

Drakken's eyes went wide as Motor Ed slapped handcuffs onto him. "Eddie?! When did you become a good guy?"

Shego knelt down in front of Drakken's prone form and held up a tiny device to his face. Her grin was evil and creepy. Drakken's eyes went even wider.

"My tracking bug! I planted that on you before you even left the lair to go to Fort Collins! How did you...?"

Shego chuckled. "Yeah, funny story, that..."

* * *

_It was New Year's Eve. Wade Load sighed heavily into the mic on his computer._

"_You don't understand Ron," Wade explained. "I tried the Kimmunicator. I tried both of their cell phones. I tried the hotel phone. Everything went to voice mail. That means that Kim found Shego and that she's making headway in repairing their relationship. I could hack into any of those things easily, but do **you** want to be the one to face them if they're like... um... you know..."_

"_Oh, yeah," Ron said, his voice ripe with sudden realization. "Good point. So not a good thing to do. But you need to at least warn them about what's going on. If you need Yori and I to fly in, that's no big. We can do that all day, every day, no problem. But it still means squat if KP and Shego are caught unawares."_

"_That's true," Wade agreed. "But how would I go about warning them?"_

"_Remember that trick you did with that garden gnome in my Mom's garage that one Mother's Day?" Ron said. "Dude, you could so do that. Like on one of their forks. Or the sofa. Or one of their toys..."_

"_Lalalalala!" Wade cried, plugging his ears with his fingers. "So flushing that image out of my brain. But I think you're on to something, Ron. And I think I can do it without making them feel like I'm invading their privacy."_

_-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-_

_Kim and Shego sat on the sofa in their hotel room in the Renaissance New York Time Square Hotel. Outside, fireworks were firing off. The room was dark in a romantic sort of way. The ball had just dropped and now everyone in the crowd in the street below were partying, carrying on, and having a good time. Kim and Shego were enjoying some personal "quiet time," snuggling together on the couch and watching the scene unfold._

"_Rochelle?" Kim asked softly, turning to Shego._

"_Yes, Kimmie?" Shego replied, turning to look at Kim._

"_May I confess something without scaring you?"_

"_I don't scare easy, Pumpkin."_

_Kim took in a deep breath. "Rochelle, I love you. I have for a long while, even before we met up in that cabin. It just took the last week for me to realize it. And I promise it's not the pheromones talking. It's me."_

_Shego nodded thoughtfully. "I... I know, Princess. You're... I know you're not on those pheromones anymore. I just... wow, I said I didn't scare easy, but here I am, getting nervous about three little words."_

"_They're three words that carry the weight of the world on them," Kim agreed. "If anything should scare you at all..."_

"_At least it's something like that and not some alien monster or something," Shego added. "Yeah. Kimmie, I think..."_

_Kim placed a finger on Shego's lips, which silenced the pale beauty. "No, Shego. If you have to start the sentence off with those words, don't say it at all. Besides, I've felt it in your kisses. I know you do."_

"_Great," Shego chuckled. "Now I have that old Cher song stuck in my head."_

"_Huh?" Kim asked, perplexed._

"_Nevermind," Shego chuckled. "Just come here and let me say it to you the right way."_

_With that, Shego pulled Kim into her arms and kissed her soundly, deeply, but also gently. It wasn't a forced kiss, but one that was possessed of all of the emotions and feelings that Shego felt at that very moment. A whole week's worth of pent up rage, grief, frustration, and regret washed away once again as she poured all of her... yes, all of her love for Kim into the kiss. Shego had lost count of the number of kisses they had already shared that evening, but each kiss felt like the first, given the amount of emotion behind each one._

_Suddenly, while the two women were deep in their kiss, the lights began to flicker._

"_What in the world?" Shego growled angrily. "Even at a discount, I pay good money to stay in this room."_

_Kim watched the lights, then glanced out the window. "That's weird. Our room is the only one suffering from this."_

"_Gyah! Hold on, Princess, I have to call room service. This is ridiculous." Shego started to stand up._

"_Wait!" Kim said, reaching up and taking Shego by the wrist._

"_What is it, Kimmie?" Shego asked._

"_This...," Kim started to say, pausing to watch the lights fluctuate._

"_This what?" Shego asked, urging the redhead to finish her sentence._

"_This is Morse Code," Kim said, continuing to watch the lights._

* * *

With that, Shego used her plasma to fry the little tracking bug that was between her fingertips.

Drakken gulped audibly.

"After Nerdlinger told us about you escaping prison," Shego explained, "we contacted the Cyclops to find out what was being done about your recapture. That's when she told us about Motor Ed."

"I'm sorry, Drew, but I plea bargained," Motor Ed growled, pressing his full weight down on Drakken's shoulders. Drakken whined in pain at that. "You see, I don't take what you did to Shego lightly. Seriously. I was going to get you for it regardless, but Director gave me a better option. My own sentence is reduced if I get you to confess to what you did with the pheromones."

Drakken's eyes filled up with disbelief on hearing that.

"Fortunately for Ed, Shego and I were more than happy to help him out on that," Kim explained, stepping up to the trio. "All that we needed was a way for you guys to find us."

"I had a suspicion you already took care of that one for us," Shego continued, leaning down to meet Drakken eye-to-eye. "So I had Kimmie do a full-body search of me. I'll spare you the wonderfully delicious details of _that_ little evening. Suffice it to say, she found the bug in a place I will never, _ever _allow you to touch again."

Drakken grinned sheepishly at that statement.

"We kept the tracker bug on so that you and Motor Ed could find us," Kim added. "We just didn't know when or where you were finally going to strike."

"And that's why I 'accidentally' fired off that cannon of yours," Motor Ed said. "To let the girls know we were here."

"And your pompous ass just couldn't resist an opportunity to gloat about how ingenious that pheromone thing was," Shego laughed. "You just did yourself in."

"Dude," Motor Ed said, pressing down again just for good measure. "Seriously."

"My whole family," Drakken cried, suddenly sobbing uncontrollably. "My whole evil family has turned against me!"

"You brought it on yourself, Drewbie," Shego growled.

At that point, several Global Justice agents pushed their way through the crowd and surrounded Kim, Shego, Motor Ed, and Drakken. All of their weapons were primed and aimed.

"My work here is done," Motor Ed declared, standing up and putting his hands up. "Seriously."

Two agents reached down and picked the thoroughly defeated Drakken by the arms. As they dragged him off, he glanced back with a look that could melt metal if looks could kill.

"This isn't over yet, Possible!" Drakken yelled. "You think you're all that, but you're not! I'll escape and I'll..."

At that point, the guards rounded a corner and dragged Drakken out of sight... and earshot.

Kim then turned to Motor Ed. "So now what?"

"He returns to prison with me to serve out the rest of his now considerably shorter sentence," came a voice from behind Kim. The redhead turned to see an older brunette with an eye patch and a Global Justice uniform.

"Betty," Motor Ed said, nodding respectfully. "How's it hangin', babe?"

Betty smirked at the short yet muscular man. "It's hangin' well, dude. Ready for the rest of your stint?"

Motor Ed sighed and nodded. "Let's get it done and over with. Maybe after this, I can make my momma proud."

"I think you already did by standing up for Shego like you did," Kim said, smiling and patting Motor Ed on the shoulder.

"Well, let's be off, then," Betty said, offering Motor Ed her arm.

Motor Ed nodded and slid his arm around Betty's arm. As the two of them walked off, followed by the rest of the Global Justice agents, Motor Ed stopped and looked back.

"Hey, Kim, Shego?" Motor Ed said, nodding to the two women. "Thanks, babes. Seriously."

"No problem, dude!" Kim replied, grinning and waving at him.

Shego sneered and elbowed her girlfriend. "Don't encourage him!" Shego snarled playfully.

That made Kim giggle.

Once the Global Justice agents had disappeared around the corner, Kim turned to Shego. "Hey, did you notice what happened there?" she asked, pointing after the agents.

"Yeah," Shego laughed. "Eddie called the Cyclops 'babe' and she let him get away with it. It appears someone has the hots for the bad boy motor junkie."

"They do say that the tats make the man," Kim purred playfully.

Shego gently slapped the back of Kim's head. "The clothes, Cupcake. The clothes make the man. But anyway, I guess now we're stuck with clean-up. And, no, your Puppy Dog Pout isn't getting you out of it this time."

Kim laughed. "One, I had graduation to attend last time. Two, this is just a little bit of plastic shrapnel, not a city full of giant robotic drones. Three, I'm pretty sure that while Betty was showing her public face, Will Du was talking to the General Manager about getting this whole mess straightened out. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Bass Pro Shop was allowed to take credit for cooperating with the trap; that'd be good PR if they could portray themselves as being conscious of public safety."

Shego snorted. "Ah, the joys of Corporate America. Well, let's get ourselves out of... Princess?"

While Shego had been talking, Kim had walked to a nearby wide-panel window. The sun was starting to peak out from behind some clouds as she gazed out the window.

"You okay, Kimmie?" Shego asked, stepping up behind the redhead. "Are your arms still bleeding?"

Kim looked back at Shego and smiled. She then held up her hands and bathed them in a shaft of sunlight nearby. As Shego watched curiously, Kim shaped her fingers and hands into an odd shape. She then glanced down at the ground, where the beam of sunlight ended. Shego followed Kim's gaze and noticed the shadow of Kim's hands.

The shadow looked like that of a groundhog.

"Looks like the groundhog saw its shadow," Kim declared. "Six more weeks of winter."

Shego chuckled at that. "Very funny, Kimmie. Merry Candlemas to you, too."

Both women laughed hard at each other's comments, then hugged each other tight. They gazed out at the beautiful weather outside before finally turning to each other and kissing each deeply.

**[END THE SHADOW OF MARMOTA MONAX]**

**NOTE: **Please thanks goes out to kgs-wy, who fed me more than a few ideas related to the big reveal in this chapter. The song that Shego alludes to in the flashback scene is _It's In His Kiss_, by Cher. Also, if you're liking this story, you might enjoy my other KP stories as well. If you haven't already, go to my profile and try out the TSOD Universe stories (_The Specter of Death_, _Robots & Redemption_, _Wedding Elements_, and _The Shadow of Infinity_) plus my new Chrono Trigger crossover story, _Chrono Sitch_.


	8. Tropical Heartache

**SOC ROAD TRIP: TROPICAL HEARTACHE**

_Sweet sixteen? Yeah, right! Sweet sixteen was for girls who had normal skin and normal hair. Girls who didn't have a faster-than-normal healing factor and the ability to make their hands glow green. Sweet sixteen was for normal girls._

_Shego wasn't normal._

_Shego crept along the rafters of the warehouse into which she had sneaked. This wasn't how she should have been spending her sixteenth birthday. She should have been by a pool with a large group of her friends, or hanging at the roller rink, or chillin' at the local car hop restaurant. Instead, she was following a lead on a very dangerous criminal who had designs on the entirety of Go City... and perhaps the entire world._

_Shego had scored the lead independently. She had long since given up playing the good team player with her brothers. Melvin was an arrogant ass and Hank was a pompous ass. Only the Weegs [oh, dear God, why did Wesley have to decide to make his own brother?] were tolerable, save for how stupidly young they were. That was okay. If Shego had to be the Batman to Hego's Superman and Mego's Green Lantern, so be it._

_Shego was up to the challenge._

_So Shego had began to cultivate her own network of contacts and informants. The more she delved into the mysteries of the criminal underworld, the more it fascinated her. It was as rich and deep and... alive... as any subculture she could ever imagine. But it was also deadly and even that Shego found fascinating. It was enough to make Shego want to become a criminologist someday._

_Hank would be so proud of that._

_Shego grit her teeth at that thought. She didn't need Hego's validation to know she was a woman worthy of respect. She was going to scout out this lead she'd been given after Hank had failed to show for her (admittedly poorly attended) birthday party. If the perp was here, she was going to bust her. Simple as that._

_Shego skittered along the rafter like a cat on a fence, graceful and silent. Eventually, she found her mark. Electronique. Shego had only heard rumors of this woman... a technological genius was the power to manipulate electricity. It wasn't known if her powers were innate like Shego's or were the product of technology. But she was considered dangerous... and twice as mysterious._

_What truly darkened Shego's mood, though, was what she saw next._

* * *

Kim Possible sat in the window seat of the airliner in which she was riding. She glanced to the seat next to hers and saw her girlfriend, Shego, fast asleep. Shego had her blanket pulled tight around her body, which was turned slightly sideways. Shego's face was half-buried in the soft pillow that the stewardess had provided. The part that Kim _could_ see was so peaceful and serene and... and beautiful.

Kim could not believe how deeply she had fallen for this gorgeous, pale-skinned woman. Not even a year ago, Kim would not have even considered looking at a woman in such a way, let alone the one villain who had actually given Kim a challenge in all of the years she'd spent as a crime-fighting adventurer. But here she was, gazing lovingly at the sleeping form of none other than Shego. The Most Dangerous Woman In The World.

Kim smiled softly to herself, in spite of herself. For a short while, Shego had thought that the love that Kim felt for Shego had been artificially created by some pheromones that Drakken had created. But it was soon realized that both Kim and Shego had loved each other for quite some time; the pheromones had simply forced them out of their state of denial.

The road trip they were on had helped to bring the two women together. They had traveled through much of the United States in the last four months. Now they were on a plane from Las Angeles, CA, heading towards Honolulu, HI.

It was going to be the best Valentine's Day ever.

Kim blinked as Shego stirred slightly, mumbling something under her breath. Shego then settled back into a deeper sleep. Kim couldn't help herself at that point. She reached over and gently stroked Shego's cheek was her fingers. After a few moments, Kim sighed contentedly and drew her hand away.

And had to bite back a yelp of surprise when Shego's hand suddenly snapped out from under the blanket and latched onto Kim's wrist.

"Don't stop," Shego murmured groggily. "Please."

Kim smiled and cupped Shego's face with her hand, stroking the ex-villains' cheek gently with her thumb.

"You look so peaceful when you sleep, Rochelle," Kim whispered softly.

"I'm surprised," Shego mumbled, opening one eye halfway. "I was having a bad dream."

Kim's soft smile faded upon hearing that. "Rochelle, I'm sorry about..."

"No," Shego said, reaching out and stroking Kim's cheek and neck with her own hand. "The dream wasn't about what happened in Kansas City. It was about something much, much different."

Kim instinctively leaned into Shego's caressing hand and sighed. Those fingers felt so different... now that she knew what _that_ felt like.

"I should be the one to apologize to you, anyway," Shego said, sitting up slightly. "I thought it'd be a good idea to buy those movies. I didn't think that... I'm just glad we were able to talk about it afterwards."

"After you explained everything to me," Kim said, leaning towards Shego, "it all made sense. It's just that I'd never felt one before, so it scared me..."

"I know, Pumpkin," Shego replied, freeing her other hand to cup the other side of Kim's face. "I'd forgotten how scary the first one can be. I'm just glad..."

"ATTENTION, PASSENGERS. WE WILL BE LANDING AT THE HONOLULU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT SHORTLY. PLEASE STOW YOUR TRAYS AND RETURN YOUR SEATS TO THE FULLY UPRIGHT POSITION."

"We're here!" Kim smiled, kissing Shego softly before turning properly into her seat.

Shego smiled and turned to return her seat into position.

"I still feel like I owe you for scaring you like that," Kim said softly.

"Well, trust me," Shego said, muttering the words softly. "You'll more than make it up to me today."

Kim looked at Shego curiously. "What do you mean?"

Shego sighed and looked back over to Kim. "We... we're meeting Mom today."

* * *

_Shego crouched down and brought out a small device from her utility belt. At first, she hated Hank for making her wear the thing. All she needed was her agility and her glow to fight crime after all. But, as she got more experienced and more resourceful, she grew more grateful for the tools that the big lug of a comic book geek made her carry. This one was a small box, rather like a Walkman brand personal radio, with earbud headphones. She plugged the earbuds into her ears and turned the device on. Now she could hear the conversation below._

_The conversation between Hego and Electronique._

"_Henry Godeaux, my love," Electronique purred in her obnoxious faux-Eastern European accent as she walked up to the large teenager and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I am so pleased you came to visit me today. And on your sister's birthday, no less. You show me such amounts of devotion."_

_Shego's heart caught in her throat. Hego was... was dating Electronique? And he ditched Shego's birthday party to be with... with that... that tramp?_

"_That's the thing, Megan," Hego replied, gently stroking the woman's dark gray hair. "Shego. She's on to your latest scheme."_

_Electronique scoffed at that statement. "She's the only one on Team Go who could figure it out, to be honest."_

_Shego couldn't decide if she wanted to throttle Electronique for being evil, kick Hego's teeth in for betraying the team, swell up with pride over Electronique's statement, or laugh hysterically at the hurt look on Hego's face._

"_She was bragging earlier today about informants she'd got on her own, outside of team operations," Hego added. "She said she had some juicy info that would lead her straight to you. I'm scared she'll..."_

_Hego's words were cut off when Electronique planted a deep kiss on the large teenager's lips. Hego tensed up slightly before melting into the kiss. Electronique took advantage of Hego's weakened state to press her body suggestively against his._

_Shego fought with all of her might to not throw up at the sight. She won... barely._

_Finally, Electronique released her kiss and grinned seductively at the now dumbfounded Hego. "Of course she's cultivated informants of her own. Did you think that she would let you and her arrogant prima donna of a twin brother hold her back any longer? She wants to get results and she wants to get them now."_

_Shego couldn't help but agree to that assessment, despite the tramp who was speaking it._

"_What she doesn't understand," Electronique continued, "is that most of the informants she's found are on my payroll. I fed her the information that she has."_

"_What?" Hego breathed, wide-eyed. Shego was thinking the exact same word in her head._

"_And that information led her straight to here," Electronique said. She then looked up into the rafters and straight into Shego's eyes. "Isn't that right, my dear, sweet Rochelle? Happy Birthday, by the way. I hope it's been a good one."_

_Hego's eyes went wide as he followed Electronique's gaze up into the rafters and saw his sister. "Shelly! Wait! This isn't what you think!"_

_Shego saw red at that point. Not only was Hego gallivanting behind the scenes with their most dangerous enemy, he had allowed that enemy to play Shego like a fool._

"_Save it, Hank!" Shego shouted back, beyond livid. "You're both going down!"_

_With that, Shego leapt down from the rafters to attack both Hego and Electronique._

* * *

Shego pulled her convertible into the parking lot and parked the car near the visitor's entrance. Kim, who had been riding in the passenger seat, quickly jumped out of the car and waiting as Shego stepped out of the car slowly.

"Queen's Medical Center?" Kim asked, looking from the building to Shego. "You're mother is here? What does she do here?"

Shego sighed. "You'll see, Kimmie. Come on, let's head inside."

Kim stepped up to Shego and walked alongside her as the two women stepped through the large, rotating doors and into the lobby. As they did so, Shego grabbed onto Kim's hand and held it tightly.

Kim glanced briefly at Shego, who kept her eyes straight ahead with a stone-cold look on her face. Kim bit her bottom lip and turned back to looking forwards.

The two of them reached the receptionist's desk. A middle-aged brunette woman in a lady's business suit glanced up at them. "Shelly? Here, let me get Matt on the phone."

"Thank you, Tasha," Shego replied, with little hint of emotion.

So many questions were boiling up inside of Kim. Kim knew that Shego knew that, too; a lot can be conveyed subconsciously through a handhold, which was why it was such an intimate gesture. But Kim kept her mouth shut and simply stood by, squeezing Shego's hand to offer reassurance. Despite Shego's emotionless expression, Kim still felt Shego return the hand squeeze.

"I will let her know that, then. Thanks, Matt," Tasha said right before she hung up her phone. She then turned to the two women. "Matt is on his way down. As usual, he'll escort you up."

"Thanks," Shego sighed as she stepped over to the side and gently pulled Kim along with her.

Kim looked at Shego with concern.

"You'll understand once we get up there," Shego replied simply. She then turned to look at Kim. Shego's face was still cold and emotionless, but the pain... the sheer, unadulterated pain in Shego's eyes. "Thank you for being here, Kimmie."

"Of course, Rochelle," Kim whispered gently. "You know I'd do this and more for you."

Shego nodded softly and then turned to face a tall, bald, dark-skinned man approaching the two of them. He wore a surgeon's gown over a business suit. A stethoscope hung lazily around his neck.

"Shelly," the man said by way of greeting, reaching out to shake Shego's hand.

Shego accepted the hand and shook it firmly. "Matt." She then turned to her girlfriend. "Kimmie, this is Dr. Matthew Collinson. He's my mother's head cardiologist."

"Doctor," Kim said, smiling and offering her hand.

Matt took the hand and shook it. "Please, call me Matt. And you must be the inimitable Kim Possible. Please excuse my rambling, but my daughter is a huge fan of you and your adventures. Maybe I could coax an autograph from you before you leave?"

"Of course," Kim replied. "But, if you don't mind my asking... you're a cardiologist?"

"That's right," Matt nodded. "Fixing broken hearts is my specialty. I'm afraid I can't say much more than that." Matt then turned to Shego. "Well, beautiful, are you ready to head on up?"

"Actually," Shego began, grabbing Kim's hand and holding it again. "Um, I want to exercise my power of attorney and have Kimmie put on the list of allowed visitors."

Matt considered Shego a moment before glancing at Kim then back at Shego. "Relationship?"

"Girlfriend," Shego replied, keeping her voice and facial expression both even.

Matt considered the two women carefully before finally nodding and smiling. "Okay. If it'd been anyone else, I'd've fought you on it. Hospital protocols and all that. But this is Kim Possible we're talking about. I've seen all of the good she's done and I think she'll be a positive influence on this situation. Come on."

Shego breathed a sigh of relief as she led Kim after Matt. Matt himself was already on his way towards the nearby elevators.

Once the three of them were in the elevator, Matt brought out a set of keys and turned a lock on the elevator. The elevator chimed and immediately began rising.

"You know, Shelly," Matt said, turning to the two women, "this will be the first visit she's had in over two months."

Shego's brow furrowed at that. "Where's Hank and Melvin been?"

"Both of them claim other business keeping their schedule tight," Matt replied, shrugging. "Hego with his superheroics and Melvin with... whatever it is he's doing right now."

"Probably kissing some television producer's tail like a sycophant," Shego growled. "I'll kill them both."

"You don't have room to talk, young lady," Matt pointed out.

"But you know of my situation," Shego countered.

"Until the Lowardian Invasion," Matt replied, refusing to back down. Kim didn't know whether to admire his bravery or his stupidity. "After that, your criminal background shouldn't have been stopping you."

Kim stepped in close to Shego, giving the pale beauty's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"It's okay, Pumpkin," Shego responded. "He's right. I should have come to visit far sooner. That's part... that's part of why I'm so nervous right now."

At that point, the elevator doors open and the trio stepped off into what Kim could only assume was the ICU, or Intensive Care Unit. The hospital rooms, as much as they were such, had large open doors and see-through glass walls along the front, allowing the attending nurses easy visual access to each patient. Each of the rooms were dark, allowing the various patients to sleep but also casting a dark and morbid air about the atmosphere. Gentle beeps, clicks, and whizzes broke the otherwise eerie silence.

"Her condition is stable at the moment," Matt whispered as they walked along the hallway. "She hasn't improved any in the last few months, but neither has her health declined significantly. She does spend a lot more time sleeping, though."

"Understandable," Shego replied. "She's been through a lot."

Suddenly, Matt stopped and turned to face one of the patient room. Shego and Kim stopped to look inside the room. And older woman with raven black hair, slightly grayed at the temples, lay asleep on the bed inside. Various tubes ran into each of her arms and a respirator was affixed firmly on her face. Her breathing was rhythmic, but Kim could just as easily here the slow churn of the respirator as she could see the rising and falling of the woman's chest.

Shego sighed and turned to Kim. "Here she is, Kimmie. Meet Janet Renee Godeaux. Meet my mother. Victim of a rare, degenerative heart disease."

Kim could only stare at the woman in the patient room as tears began to well up in her eyes.

* * *

_Hego rose an arm to block Shego, who struck at him with both fists blazing. Shego had intended to attack Electronique first, of course... she was the one who was the villain, after all, and for all Shego knew Hego could have been mind controlled. If it was mind control, Shego was certain she would enjoy every ounce of pain she was going to inflict on the gray-skinned villainess. But Hego had interposed himself between Shego and Electronique._

_In order to protect Electronique. ELECTRONIQUE!_

"_Shego, calm down!" Hego bellowed as Shego lashed out indiscriminately at her brother. "Let me explain!"_

"_Nothing to explain, you traitor!" Shego screamed, slashing through Hego's costume with her sharpened nails. "But please, do tell me... how good is that harlot in the sack?"_

_Electronique, who was standing to the side, enjoying the show, rubbed her fingertips on her costume and blew the proverbial dust off of them. "I do say I leave him quite satisfied."_

_Shego screamed incoherently and spun around to slash at Electronique again. Hego caught Shego's wrist, spun around, and threw Shego across the room into a pile of empty crates._

"_Shego!" Hego bellowed again. "Please try to understand! Electronique is paying for mom's hospital bills!"_

_Shego shifted slowly out of the painful position she found herself in within the pile of crates. "She... what?"_

"_None of us can afford to pay the hospital anymore, Shego," Hego explained as his sister crawled back out onto the floor. "And state insurance dropped her a couple of months ago. Her condition was deemed incurable, so public aid doesn't want to help her anymore. With Dad already dead, I had no other choice but to turn to the only person in Go City who could afford the hospital bills."_

"_So she's the mysterious Megan Watts I've seen listed on the hospital bills," Shego hissed. "Hank, don't you realize there is always a price to pay for something like that?"_

_Hego paused and nodded shamefully, not looking at Shego in the eyes._

_Shego took a deep breath and crossed his arms. "So, let me guess, the price is keeping her informed of what we're doing and making sure we don't catch her while she's committing a caper."_

_Hego nodded shamefully again._

"_Once again, she proves how she is so much smarter than the rest of Team Go," Electronique laughed softly. Hego winced at that statement. Electronique then walked up to Hego and draped herself lovingly on his massive arm. "Besides, he gets an additional benefit beyond seeing Mom's expenses paid. He's no longer a virgin. Can you say that, you green freak?"_

_Hego wasn't fast enough to catch Shego. The green teenager screamed incoherently and literally flew across the room, jacking Electronique in the jaw so hard that the villainess flew across the other side of the room and crashed into the wall there._

_Shego, now wild-eyed with unkempt hair and a maniacal grin, seethed at the villainess. When Electronique did manage to look up, Shego snapped._

"_Come on!" Shego cackled maniacally. "Get up! Say something else stupid! This is fun! I like this game!"_

"_Your brother is a dirty, filthy whore who is willing to sell out his whole team for a woman who can't take care of herself and a piece of tail?" Electronique offered, knowing full well what effect the statement would have on Shego._

_Shego screamed and lunged to grab at Electronique. But she didn't make it there. Hego grabbed onto Shego's ankles, spun, and threw Shego through the air and against the wall on the far side of the warehouse._

_Hego then spun and glared at Electronique. "Do you need to antagonize her? You know her temper is volatile!"_

"_She's dangerous," Electronique countered, a knowing smirk on her face, as she rose to her feet. "If she's allowed to go against the grain of your team, against what society expects of you heroes, she's going to become a villain herself and become an even greater threat than me!"_

_Hego paused and looked back in the direction he had thrown Shego. He bit his lower lip as he considered Electronique's words._

"_Think about it, lover," Electronique purred, stepping up next to Hego and caressing his pecs lovingly. "She's already showing the signs. She studies criminals. She shows a fascination with them. She heads out on her own and does her own patrols, against team schedule. She's showing a great deal of distrust for you and Melvin and Wesley."_

"_You're right," Hego breathed. "It all makes sense now. She is turning into a villain."_

_Electronique leaned into Hego and whispered coyly into his ear, "We need to stop her before she becomes one."_

_Hego narrowed his eyes and made the fateful decision._

"_Yes, we do."_

* * *

Shego sat down next to her mother's bed and took the woman's hand into her own. Kim stood over to the side, holding one arm with the other hand as she watched her girlfriend.

"Mom, I'm sorry I haven't been by to visit more often," Shego whispered, bowing her head. "I've been so selfish. Even after I cleared my name and was able to move on with my life, I kept running. I didn't know how to stop. Part of me still doesn't know how..."

"You're taking her out tonight, right?"

Both Shego and Kim blinked when they heard the raspy voice of the woman laying in the bed. Janet slowly opened her eyes and gazed on Shego with a weak smile.

"Um, uh," Shego stammered, sitting up and scratching the back of her head. "What?"

"The pretty redhead over there," Janet replied, motioning her head towards Kim. "The one I saw you kissing on the news the other day."

Kim blushed ferociously as Shego looked at her mother with utter disbelief.

"They caught that on the news?" Shego asked incredulously.

"They were apparently already there when you took down your ex-boyfriend," Janet chuckled painfully. "So, yeah, they caught it on film when you went straight over and laid one on the redhead that would have turned any man into a puddle of goo."

Kim turned her head and mumbled something like "It _did_ turn me into a puddle of goo."

Shego took a deep breath and steeled herself. "Yeah, that. Um, yeah. I bet that came as quite a shock to you. I..."

"I cheered so loud the nurses rushed in and ran a full battery of tests," Janet laughed, causing her to cough slightly. Shego sobered up and gripped her mother's hand gently. Janet finished coughing, nodding to let the women know she was okay, and continued. "Shego, I've followed your exploits all through your criminal career."

"Mom...," Shego breathed, ducking her head in shame. Kim stepped up and rubbed Shego's shoulders gently.

"I always thought that if you'd just stood up for yourself and told that idiot Drakken what to do with himself, you could've taken over the world," Janet added. She shook her head. "Instead, not only did you keep yourself under Drakken's heel, you started banging him!"

"Mom!" Shego gasped. "You don't have to put it like that!"

"It's what it was, wasn't it?" Janet chuckled, causing her to cough slightly again. "Please, dear, tell me he was at least good in bed."

"Mom...," Shego sighed, ducking her head again while Kim convulsed in disgust.

"It shattered my heart to learn that he'd struck you down like he did," Janet added.

"How did you...?" Shego started to ask.

"It was in the news," Janet pointed out. "Mind you, I didn't find out until _after_ he'd been convicted for doing it, but I found out. But then I found out you were spending time with Kim Possible and it made me happier."

"You're a Kimmie fan too?" Shego growled disapprovingly, earning a playful slap from her girlfriend.

Janet smiled and shook her head. "I'm not, but Collinson's daughter is. They like to come in on major holidays and spend time with me, since they know my children don't come to visit me that much."

Shego winced at that statement. It hurt mostly because it was true.

"Shelly, sweatheart," Janet said, trying feebly to reach out to her daughter. "Listen to me. I don't blame you. I know what happened between you and Henry. Am I upset you became a villain? Yes. Am I upset that when you did decide to become a villain, you weren't the best villain you could possibly be? Yes. But you had a lot of baggage to deal with. I'm sorry I gave you that baggage."

"Mom...," Shego whispered, right before she broke down crying.

Janet looked up at Kim. "Please take care of my daughter, Kim. I don't know how much longer I'll be of this world. And I know that if anyone can take care of my Shelly, it'll be you."

"Dammit, Mom!" Shego seethed, suddenly looking up and glaring at her mother with tear-soaked eyes. "You've fought like a warrior against this thing for over twelve years. You're not dying anytime soon."

"Rochelle Denee Godeaux," Janet sighed. "Yes, I have lived with this condition for that long. That is true. But I'm not getting any better. And there will be a time when I will grow tired and I will want to join the spirits of the world."

"Please, not yet," Shego pleaded, gripping her mother's hand tightly. "Don't go yet. Not yet."

Janet chuckled again. Kim was somehow finding that simple, painful laughter uplifting. "No, not yet. Shelly, you act like I'm planning to close my eyes and fade away right this instant. Ready to die, I am not, padawan."

"Mom!" Shego laughed, wiping away her tears.

"But you need to understand, sweetheart," Janet added. "I'm not going to be around forever. It might not even be for much longer. And you need to be able to accept that as a fact, so that you can let me go and live your own life."

"But," Shego choked, burying her face in her mother's arm. "Everything I've done so far..."

"...has been for me, I know," Janet smiled, stroking her daughter's raven hair gently. "You think you could get that one past me, too? I mean, who else but a world-class villain could afford hospital bills such as mine?"

Shego bit her lip on that.

"Rochelle?" Kim breathed, suddenly connecting the dots.

"Yeah," Shego sighed, turning slightly to acknowledge Kim. "All those times you've been kicking my tail and sending me packing? I was earning money to pay for Mom's stay here."

"Wow," was all Kim could think to say in response.

"My darling Shelly has always had a heart of gold, Kim," Janet said, patting Shego's hand proudly. "She just likes to sheathe it in fire to keep it from getting tarnished."

"You and your metaphors, Mom," Shego chuckled.

"I just want you to promise me, Shelly," Janet said, suddenly taking on a more serious face. "When I go, I want you to celebrate my life, not mourn my death. The Spirit Plains are calling me and I will be in a much better place, I promise. Celebrate my life and the fact that I raised five of the most beautiful children on the face of the planet."

Shego snorted. "So, you're counting Weston, huh?"

"Damn straight I am!" Janet laughed. "I got a set of twins without having to carry them. Of course I'm counting him!"

"Mom, I'm not going to make any promises I can't keep," Shego warned, pointing a finger at her mother. "But I will say I will try."

Janet smiled weakly and closed her eyes. "That's all I ask, sweetheart. That's all I ask."

"I love you so much, Mom," Shego whispered, reaching up to touch her mother's face.

"I love you too, Firebug," Janet smiled softly just before she drifted off to sleep.

"Get some sleep, Mom," Shego whispered back before standing up. "Princess and I will be back tomorrow. I promise."

As they left the room, Matt stood by smiling. "You have no idea what seeing you meant to her, Shelly."

Shego smirked playfully at the cardiologist. "Matt, you have no idea what her seeing me meant to me."

"True, that," Matt agreed. "Are you two heading back out now?"

Shego nodded. "Yeah. I'm taking Kimmie to one of those shows where they have the hula dancers and the fire jugglers or whatever they are and where they bake that pig under the ground and all that. I figured she'd get a kick out of it."

"We're going to a luau!" Kim squealed as softly as she possibly could. She bounced up and down excitedly. Then it dawned on her. "You've never been to one?"

"Not a single one," Shego admitted, shrugging. "I've just seen 'em on the Travel Channel and whatnot. I thought it'd be cool to go to one."

"Well, love of my life," Kim purred, kissing her girlfriend on the cheek. "You most certainly chose the perfect Valentine's Day gift."

"I'm glad you approve," Shego replied with playful sarcasm. She still enjoyed the kiss, though.

Matt escorted the two women to the front lobby and bid them farewell. As Kim and Shego walked towards their car, Kim turned to Shego.

"Angel," Kim said, carefully touching Shego's arm, "please forgive me for prying. But you became a villain in order to pay for your mother's bills here. How are you handling that now? Do you need help?"

Shego shook her head and grinned evilly. "Trust me, Kimmie. I'm fine. When I accepted that Global Justice pardon, they did indeed seize all of my illegal assets. They _didn't_ seize any of Electronique's illegal assets from before her first prison term."

Kim looked at Shego queerly as the ex-villainess grinned smugly and stepped into their rental convertible. Her mind still full of curiosity, she stepped into the car too.

As Shego pulled out of the parking lot, Shego looked at Kim. "By the way, if you ever call me by my mother's pet name..."

Kim shook her head. "I hate it when my mother calls me by her pet name, so..."

"Oh, yeah, Bubble-Butt," Shego chuckled. "That was so long ago, I forgot I heard her call you that on that train... I might have to..."

"Try it, Firebug," Kim replied, glaring at her girlfriend.

"Right, no Bubble-Butt, then," Shego laughed.

With that, Kim snuggled up against Shego's body as the ex-villainess drove on to their hotel.

* * *

_Shego crashed back into the crates behind her, caught unawares by the avalanche of wood and metal that came crashing down on top of her._

_Hego stood by, bloodied and worn, breathing heavily as he stood in a boxer's stance. "Please don't make me do this, Shego. I love you. You're my sister and I want the best for you. I don't want to see you become a villain."_

"_Is that what your girlfriend is telling you now?" Shego groaned, working feverishly to get the crates out of her way so she could stand up again. "That I'm going to become a villain? Wake up, Hank! I'm here to STOP the villain!"_

"_You're trying to put down the one person who can pay for Mom's medical bills," Hego shot back, picking up a nearby crate and tossing it at the pile that covered Shego. "In my book, that makes you a murderer. And you already have an unhealthy obsession with the criminal subculture. I should have seen it by now. It just took someone like Electronique to wake me up."_

_Shego grunted under the weight of the crates that was piling up on top of her. "What do you intend to do to save me, Hego? Kill me?"_

"_No!" Hego's voice snapped, the anger suddenly obvious. "I'm not a murderer like you! I'd have you committed, where you could receive the therapy and medication you needed to find your balance again. I want Team Go to thrive... that won't happen if I kill you."_

"_Here, lover," Electronique's voice cooed. "Take this."_

_Shego froze in fear at that moment. One of Electronique's shticks was that she could take anything electronic and turn it into a weapon. If it was already a weapon, she could make it an even better weapon._

"_What is this?" Hego's voice asked._

"_It is a quantum destabilizer," Electronique's voice explained. "It will freeze Shego in time. That way, she can be safely transported to the asylum of your choice."_

Quantum **destabilizer**, you fraggin' idiot! _Shego wanted to scream. But the weight of the crates that was now on top of her was making it hard for her to breath, let alone speak. _It's going to **unravel** time around me, not freeze it!

_Shego could literally feel Hego shrug as he pondered it for a moment. "It's worth a try. Thanks, Megan."_

"_Anytime," Electronique cooed coyly._

This is it, then, _Shego thought to herself. _Happy Sweet Sixteen, Rochelle. Your brother is going to kill you without even knowing it and then he's going to bang Electronique for the rest of his probably very short life. What a successful superhero you are.

_Shego closed her eyes and braced for the moment of death. But it never came. Suddenly, Electronique's voice shrieked in anger and the weight of the crates began to lighten. Considerably._

"_Don't worry, Sis!" came the voice of Wesley, one half of the Wego twins._

"_We'll get you out of there," came the voice of Wesley's clone copy, Weston._

Thank God! _Shego breathed as she felt herself being able to actually... well... breath._

"_Hold on, Heeg," came the voice of Shego's twin brother, Melvin, aka Mego. "We'll break you out of Electronique's mind control in a jiffy."_

"_Um...," Hego started to mumble._

"_Don't stand there, you dolt! Do somethi... ACK!"_

"_Nice rapid regrowth uppercut there, Meeg!"_

"_Thanks, Weeg!"_

"_Guys, this isn't a good idea."_

"_Hold that thought, Heeg. I'm going to find that device that Electronique used to mind control you and try to reverse its polarity. Where is it, anyway."_

"_Mego, there is no..."_

"_Ah, here it is. Hold still and... huh. Nothing. Well, the effects might not be visible to the naked eye. How are you feeling, bro?"_

"_Um, good, but..."_

"_Great! That means it must've worked. Hey, Weegs! How're you doing in unburying Sis?"_

"_Almost..." "...done."_

_At that point, Shego saw florescent light. Two sets of hands reached down and pulled Shego's stiff and aching body to its feet._

_Shego looked around. The warehouse was an absolute wreck. Broken and shattered crates were strewn everywhere. Electronique lay unconscious near her computerized workstation. Mego stood next to a flabbergasted Hego, holding a strange device in his hands. And the Wego twins carefully dusted Shego off._

"_Are you okay, Sis?" Wesley asked._

"_You're not hurt too badly?" Weston asked._

"_Thanks for the signal you sent us a few minutes ago, Sis," Mego said, smiling triumphantly. "Thanks to you, I was able to swoop in, defeat Electronique, restore Hego's sanity, and save the day. All in a day's work for Go City's greatest hero, if I do say so myself."_

_Shego growled angrily and yanked her arms out from Wesley and Weston's grasps._

"_You all are a bunch of flamed idiots!" Shego seethed. "That's it. I quit."_

"_What?" Wesley gasped._

"_You can't!" Weston claimed._

"_I can," Shego growled, glaring at each of her younger brothers as if to dare them to speak again. "And I did."_

"_I can't let you," Hego said, stepping towards Shego. "You'll..."_

"_I would shut up if I were you, Mr. Hero!" Shego snapped, pointing a finger at Hego. "You're cured of your madness, remember?"_

_Hego stopped on a dime and bit his lower lip._

"_Thanks to me, thank you very much," Mego bragged, placing a hand on his chest in pride._

_Mego was rewarded with a blast of plasma flame in his face, knocking him on his back._

"_Shego!" Hank snapped._

_Shego growled audibly at Hego, baring her teeth. She then caught a glimpse of Electronique's unconscious form and sighed. She rose from her battle stance and strode over to Electronique's workstation._

"_Shego?" Hego asked, watching his sister._

_Shego lit her right hand with plasma flame and then plunged that hand like a knife into Electronique's workstation. Within moments, she yanked out a box that looked like a glorified hard drive. She then turned to her brothers._

"_Do **not **try to follow me, if you know what's best for you," she warned. "I'm done with this. I'm done with your idiocy. I'm done with these schemes and these thankless jobs. Most of all, I'm done with heroism. Just make sure Electronique gets a prison cell, will you? She should get a solid ten years, easy."_

_With that, Shego closed her eyes and stormed past Hego. Surprisingly, the big lug didn't lift a finger to stop her. She then stormed past the Wego twins. They looked like they were about to cry, so Shego closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and acted like it didn't affect her at all. She just kept on walking, a cold, emotionless look on her face._

_Mego finally stumbled to his feet and saw his sister walking away. "Shego, wait! We can..."_

_Mego started to step forward, but a large hand on his shoulder stopped him. Mego turned to see Hego shaking his head._

"_Let her go, Mego," Hego said with such a soft, level voice as to creep Mego out. "Just... just let her go. I have a feeling it will all work out in the end, anyway."_

_With that, Hego, Mego, and the Wego twins watched as Shego walked out of the warehouse and into the night... with all of Electronique's personal data in her hands._

**[END THE SHADOW OF TROPICAL HEARTACHE]**

**NOTE: **This story is hella early. But as many of you know, when you're artist, you work as your muse strikes you. If you're liking this story, you might enjoy my other KP stories as well. If you haven't already, go to my profile and try out the TSOD Universe stories (_The Specter of Death_, _Robots & Redemption_, _Wedding Elements_, and _The Shadow of Infinity_) plus my new Chrono Trigger crossover story, _Chrono Sitch_.


	9. Lei of the Heart

**SOC ROAD TRIP: LEI OF THE HEART**

Shego drove down the Hawaiian highway in the dark green convertible she had rented. She was still wearing the same outfit she had worn to visit her mother in the hospital—a black silk dress blouse, dark green slacks, comfortable black pumps, and designer sunglasses. Her long, luxurious raven-black hair, sporting an impossible undertone of dark green, fluttered freely in the wind. The air was comfortably warm and smelled nice. With all of the winter weather going on stateside, being in the tropical warmth of Hawaii certainly hit the spot.

But then Shego glanced over at the woman sitting in the passenger seat of the convertible. Her girlfriend, Kim Possible, sat morosely, staring out at the landscape as it whizzed by. Her own luxurious red hair fluttered softly in the wind, nearly distracting Shego from the trimmed, white camisole, blue jeans, and comfortable white pumps she was wearing.

Her girlfriend. No matter how many times Shego repeated it in her head, the idea still sent a pleasurable shiver down her spine. Shego had fought Kim for dominance on the battlefield of good versus evil for over four years, neither of them ever truly getting an edge over the other. Then, suddenly, the Lowardians tried to invade and all of that changed. Shego found herself with a global pardon for her crimes and a sudden desire to do right by it. Drakken had chosen to squander his and nearly killed Shego and nearly ruined Kim's sexuality in the process.

Instead, Drakken had inadvertently driven the two women closer together than they had ever been before. To the point where, after Drakken's pheromone plot had been foiled, Kim and Shego still chose to explore the feelings they had for each other.

It had been a dangerous journey. Not because of the action and physical danger... weirdly, there had been very little of that. The danger had laid in Shego's heart. Shego had led her life feeling very guarded and isolated. Opening up to Drakken had been the bravest thing Shego had ever done and it had backfired horribly in her face. So, as she had slowly opened up to Kim, Shego half expected that same backfire to happen. She knew it was unrealistic... Kim Possible was The Girl Who Could Do Anything, including make a certain ex-villainess feel safe and loved. But that didn't mean that being open and honest with the redhead had been easy.

After the two of them had visited Shego's mother in the hospital in Honolulu, Shego had taken a leap of faith and told Kim about what had happened between her and Hego. About how Hego had courted with Electronique in order to pay for their mother's hospital bills. About how she and Hego had fought over the matter, about the matter of morality over necessity. About how, because of Hego, Shego had chosen to become a villain because being a hero didn't mean anything anymore if a hero was willing to compromise his principles just to pay for some bills. About how Shego had stolen all of Electronique's criminal assets in order to start up her own career and never reported those assets to Global Justice after the pardon.

Kim had been uncomfortably quiet since that conversation, simply staring out of the convertible as they drove along. Finally, the silence became too much for Shego.

"Kimmie, please," Shego said, loud enough to be heard over the wind but softly enough to not sound harsh. "Talk to me. What's going through your mind right now?"

Suddenly, Kim perked up and pointed at a strip mall as they drove by it. "Pull in here!"

"Um, okay," Shego muttered, turning into the parking lot just in time.

Shego parked near the street. Kim jumped out of the convertible without opening the door.

"Wait here," Kim said simply. "I'll be right back."

With that, Kim ran off.

"All righty, then," Shego breathed, watching curiously as Kim ran across the parking lot and around the corner of the strip mall. With the redhead gone, Shego leaned the seat back, closed her eyes, and sighed.

"I can't say that I really blame her," Shego said to herself. "I mean, she's grown up in a perfect, loving family environment. She's never had to face the decisions and the hardships that I have. Hell, she had to take up crime-fighting just to get any sort of challenge out of her life. So, to find out I basically stole someone's else' criminal life and hadn't given it up yet..."

Shego sighed and cover her eyes with one arm. "I should know better than to open up to someone like that. I always wind up hurting that person when I do."

"Well, there's always going to be friction when one person had to grow up too fast and the other never had to grow up at all."

"Well, I wouldn't be that harsh about it, but...," Shego started to respond. Then she bolted upright and turned to look at the speaker.

Kim was standing there on the other side of the passenger side door, arms crossed, hips slightly bent, smirking at the green-hued beauty.

"I, um...," Shego started to stammer.

"...thought I was mad at you," Kim finished, opening up the door and stepped into the convertible. "I'm sorry for making you think that. Yes, I had to do a lot of thinking about what you said. But I was way more mad at Hego than I could ever be at you."

"Join the club, Princess," Shego chuckled sardonically.

"At least you didn't compromise your principles until Hego made you think it wasn't worth it anymore," Kim pointed out. "Besides, it wasn't the only thing I was thinking about."

Shego considered Kim for a moment before digging into her pocket, bringing out a penny, and handing it to Kim.

Kim raised a brow to that. "Oh, really?"

Shego grinned evilly. "Yeah, really."

Kim chuckled and took the penny. "If you _must_ know, I was trying to figure out how I was going to get you something like this."

With that, Kim dug into her own pocket and brought out a small ring box.

Shego's eyes went wide on that. "Um, Kimmie?"

"No, I'm not proposing, if that's what you're thinking," Kim laughed. "I don't plan on rushing things like that. This is just your Valentine's Day gift."

Shego accepted the box from Kim. Carefully opening it up, she had to catch her breath. Inside was a necklace on a platinum chain. The centerpiece was a small emerald gem cut in the form of a flame. It was set in a platinum housing.

"You like it?" Kim asked carefully after Shego simply sat there and stared at it for several minutes.

"Like it?" Shego breathed. "Kimmie, I... I love it. I... why?"

Kim smiled and leaned in to look at Shego in the eyes. "Rochelle Denee Godeaux. Will you be my Valentine?"

Shego's eyes went even wider (amazingly enough) before pressed her lips together in a vain attempt to keep from busting out laughing. She finally caved, leaning into her laughter as Kim joined her.

"Yes, Kimberly Anne Possible," Shego finally managed to say in response. "I will be your Valentine."

Kim carefully took the necklace from the ring box and fastened it around Shego's neck. Kim then leaned back to consider it. "Hmmm! A perfect fit. And it looks so gorgeous on you."

"Thank you, Kimmie," Shego sighed happily, looking down and touching the emerald flame. "To think, not even a year ago, I would have been robbing jewelry stores to get something like this."

"Not anymore," Kim purred, leaning in closer to Shego. "We have each other to gift them to each other now."

Shego didn't need any further prompting. She looked up and smiled knowingly just before their lips met. The kiss lingered for several moments before Shego finally pulled away.

"Are you ready for _your_ gift now, Cupcake?" Shego asked, turning back towards the driving wheel. "I believe I owe you one luau."

"Please and thank you," Kim replied, smiling contentedly as she leaned back into the passenger seat.

* * *

"Hey, Rochelle!" Kim laughed.

"Yes, Pum...pppphhh!"

Kim laughed delightedly as Shego's eyes crossed. She slowly, playfully, pulled the two fingers she had just shoved into Shego's mouth out. Shego winced slightly as she made a very visible swallowing gesture.

"Two-finger poi," Kim smiled. "What do you think?"

Shego shook her head violently, as if to throw something off of her head. "You know, Kimmie, I have my own bowl."

Kim laughed again, which made Shego sigh and smile patiently at the red.

"You do also realize," Shego added, picking up a nearby spoon and showing it to Kim, "that we _can_ use utensils. Just because the indigenous Polynesian culture used to forbid it over a century ago doesn't mean we _have _to do it that way now."

As if she had not heard a single word Shego had just said, Kim plunged two fingers into the bowl of poi sitting on her lap and then stuck those two fingers into her mouth. Kim purred contentedly as she did so.

Shego just shook her head in humor. "Cupcake, you realize that's just mashed root and water, right?"

"Technically, it's the mashed corm of the taro plant," Kim corrected before dipping her fingers again, scooping up another mouthful of poi, and shoving it in her mouth. "The corm is like a plant's stem, only it grows underground and stores up all of the vital nutrients that the taro plant needs."

"Underground," Shego pointed out, using her spoon to take a bite. "So, root. I rest my case."

"And you're the teacher of the two of us," Kim joked playfully, scooping up another mouthful.

"Doy! Language Arts!" Shego replied, warming to the challenge of the debate. "Plus I'm used to sipping mai tais on a beach chair while hot cabana boys wait on me hand and foot in order to experience the Hawaiian culture. Not sitting on a grass mat eating plant root pudding and pig roasted by hot dirt."

Kim nearly choked on a mouthful of poi trying to keep herself from bursting out laughing. "Geez, Rochelle. You're such a tourist!"

"Well?" Shego laughed back. "Am I right or am I right?"

"You forgot about the hula dancers and the fire dancers," Kim pointed out with a knowing smirk.

"Yeah," Shego replied dreamily. "The fire dancers were hella hot."

Kim rose a brow to that statement, two fingers still stuck in her mouth.

"Oh, don't get your panties in a wad, Kimmie," Shego laughed. "You're still my girlfriend. But, come on! Ripped, topless men in grass skirts playing with fire. _Come on!_"

Kim nodded knowingly. "Good. I was hoping I wasn't the only one who noticed that, either. They kinda make you forget that when they're dancing, they're really telling you a story. Just like the hula dancers which, might I add, aren't slouches in the good looks department, either."

Shego considered Kim carefully at that point. "I guess we both still have a little bit of straight in us, huh?"

Kim nodded. "And I don't see anything wrong with that. I mean, we do still find each other attractive, still care for each other, right?"

"More than I care to admit," Shego... well, admitted. "Somehow, despite the fact that you're tiny, fair skinned, and a woman, something about you makes me more attracted to you than I've felt with any of the men I've ever been with. And, trust me, Kimmie, some of the guys I've been with would permanently curl your toes."

"It's called our souls, Rochelle," Kim said, reaching over to place a gentle hand on Shego's hand. "We're so much alike while still being each other's yin to our yang. That pulls us together far more strongly than any level of physical attraction. A man can have tanned skin, a ruggedly handsome face, toned muscles, and be well-hung. But if he can't keep up with us, move like us, think like us..."

"Then he isn't _for _us," Shego agreed, nodding knowingly.

"And besides," Kim said, leaning over and kissing Shego gently on the cheek. "You, my love, are hella hot in your own special way. So, yeah, I'm okay with you being a little bit bisexual if you're okay with me being the same. Because you _are_ my soulmate, Rochelle. You're the only one who can keep up with me."

Shego smiled softly at that. She wasn't sure if she was comfortable being this soft, even around the woman she had grown to love. But she had become that soft. And felt strangely... liberating... to be able to relax like this. To not fear that the other person's next move might scar her for life.

Kim smiled back. Then, in an act that Shego could only assume was intended for pure obnoxiousness, while still staring lovingly into Shego's emerald green eyes, Kim absently plunged two fingers into her bowl of poi and shoved those same fingers into her mouth.

Shego busted up laughing at that sight.

* * *

"And evening at a luau followed by an evening stroll on a beach?" Kim said, sighing contentedly as she leaned into Shego. "I couldn't have asked for a better Valentine's Day if I tried."

Kim and Shego were strolling along one of Hawaii's more remote beaches, a fair distance from Honolulu. The stars were twinkling brightly in the dark velvet sky. The waters of the nearby surf lapped lazily on the beach, creating a relaxing, rhythmic cadence as the two women strolled along.

"It's our first Valentine's Day together like this, Princess," Shego said, hugging Kim closer. "I wanted it to have memories we could share for a lifetime. That's why I got you this."

Suddenly reaching into her slacks pocket, Shego pulled a small envelope and handed it to Kim.

Kim considered Shego curiously before opening the envelope and gasping at what was inside. Kim carefully pulled out a small gold ring with a tiny aquamarine stone set into it.

"Aquamarine?" Kim asked, her eyes almost literally twinkling with delight.

"That's your birthstone, right?" Shego asked in return.

Kim nodded mutely as she placed the ring on her right ring finger. "It's beautiful. Thank you, Rochelle."

Shego shrugged. "It's just a ring. I'm glad you like it, but it's just a physical object. It, um, it doesn't do justice to what I really want to do for you."

Kim smiled softly and placed a loving hand on Shego's shoulder. "All in due time, Shego. Right now, we're still exploring our relationship, right?"

Shego nodded softly, placing a hand over the hand on her shoulder.

"I love you and I know you love me," Kim said softly. "So let's not ruin it by rushing. Let's make sure we are truly comfortable with each other before we dedicate our everything to each other."

Shego smiled in agreement before leaning down to kiss Kim.

Kim smirked and placed a finger on Shego's lips. "Hold on, lover. First off, let me check on something."

Shego raised a brow to that, but took a respectful step back.

Kim then turned to her wristband Kimmunicator and punched a few buttons. After a second, the smiling face of Wade Load appeared on the screen.

"Hey, Kim!" Wade greeted. "You ready?"

"I was just about to ask if you'd got the favors pulled in," Kim replied. "Do you have our coordinates now?"

"Sure do!" Wade replied. "I'm relaying the coordinates now. Just sit tight. I've got things covered at this end."

"Please and thank you," Kim smiled. "And, as always, Wade, you rock."

"Just doing what I do," Wade said, saluting Kim. "Enjoy the evening."

With that, Kim closed the communication and turned back to her girlfriend with an impish grin on her face.

Shego folded her arms, shifted her hips, and tossed Kim a cocked-brow look. "What did you do, Ray?"

Kim smirked and pointed up into the sky.

Shego furrowed her brow a moment before risking a glance upward. Just in time, as several military jets flew overhead in a tight, coordinated formation.

Shego's eyes went wide. "The Blue Angels? The Blue Angels owed you a favor?"

"Wait for it," Kim smiled, folding her arms.

As Shego watched, the Blue Angels... the United States Navy's premier flight demonstration team... flew in coordinated patterns that boggled even her experienced pilot's mind for several moments. Then, suddenly, the jets converged (or seemed to converge... Shego was more than certain they were all at slightly different altitudes so as not to collide with each other) and burst away from each other in a star-like formation.

It was the burst of light that the jets left in their wake, in the seat of their convergence, that caught Shego's attention.

The bright, twinkling lights of a firework exploded, lighting up the sky for a brief moment. As the twinkles of light fell towards the ground, like gently falling motes of stardust, they slowly formed several works in bright, colorful light.

I LOVE YOU, ROCHELLE!

Shego was gobsmacked for several moments. She stood there, slack jawed, as she watched the incandescent message flitter towards the ocean waves below. As the letters began to fade, Shego was roused by the feeling of two slender arms folding around her from behind. Shego felt Kim's cheek nestle affectionately into the nape of her neck.

"You used a favor from the Blue Angels to give me this?" Shego breathed incredulously.

"And I have the flight... and your reaction to it, on video," Kim purred, holding up her wrist with her Kimmunicator attached. "Happy Valentine's Day, Rochelle."

Shego hung her head and shook it mirthfully. She then turned around in Kim's arms and stared into the redhead's beautiful, olive green eyes. "Yes, Happy Valentine's Day, Kimmie."

With that, the two women kissed deeply as the ocean tide lapped rhythmically on the edge of the beach nearby.

**[END LEI OF THE HEART]**

**NOTE: **If you're liking this story, you might enjoy my other KP stories as well. If you haven't already, go to my profile and try out the TSOD Universe stories (_The Specter of Death_, _Robots & Redemption_, _Wedding Elements_, and _The Shadow of Infinity_) plus my new Chrono Trigger crossover story, _Chrono Sitch_.


	10. Storms Over Colorado, Part 2

**SOC ROAD TRIP: STORMS OVER COLORADO, PART 2**

Shego drove down the road in northern Colorado, allowing the warm, spring air to blow through her long, dark raven hair. In the seat next to her was her girlfriend of almost five months, Kim Possible. Kim had begrudgedly agreed to allow herself to be blindfolded for this last leg of the journey. Shego wanted this to be surprise. Shego smirked wickedly at the thought.

As Shego thought about it for perhaps the umpteenth million time, she would have never thought that the last seven months would have gone the way they had. Kim and Shego had started their journey as acquaintances, barely having gotten past the fact that they were previously mortal enemies. Now... now was a whole different story. Despite the fact that it was discovered that it was an underhanded plot by Doctor Drakken that had set events into motion, Kim and Shego had agreed to continue exploring their feelings for each other.

The rewards had been beyond description.

"So, Pumpkin," Shego smiled, turning to her blindfolded girlfriend. "You ready for our May Day celebration?"

In spite of being blind, Kim smirked knowingly. "You sure I'm not going to embarrass you?"

Shego laughed. "You mean, like you did on Saint Patrick's Day?"

* * *

"_Keep me cockatoo cool, Curl!" Kim sang, standing on a bar stool and holding up a pint of green beer in the air. The goofy grin on her face spoke volumes about her state of inebriation. "Keep me cockatoo cool! Ah, don't go acting the fool, Curl. Just keep me cockatoo cool! ALL TOGETHER NOW!"_

_Everyone around the Sydney, Australia, bar that Kim and Shego had chose to visit on Saint Patrick's Day rose up their own pints and began to sing along with Kim._

"_Tie me kangaroo down, sport! Tie me kangaroo down! Tie me kangaroo down, sport! Tie me kangaroo down!"_

"_'N' take me koala back, Jack!" Kim continued to sing. "Take me koala back! He lives..."_

_Kim stopped suddenly as she felt a tug at her shirt. She glanced down at her girlfriend, Shego, who was blushing a furious shade of green and keeping her head down to hide it._

"_Kimmie, just... just stop," Shego muttered softly. "You're embarrassing yourself."_

"_Oh, come on!" a nearby man said, pounding his empty mug on the bar counter. "Let th' sheila have some fun. We all are!"_

"_Yeah!" agreed another man. "Quit bein' such a sook!"_

"_Yeah, Rochelle," Kim smiled. "Quit being such a..." She then glanced up at the second man. "A what?"_

_The men sitting around the bar busted up laughing at that point._

"_Kimmie...," Shego whimpered, almost literally withering down into her barstool._

"_Seriously," Kim laughed. "What's the deal? Rolf Harris is quintessential Australian."_

"_That's the thing," Shego hissed. "You're an American in Australia trying too hard to be Australian. They're making fun of you for that!"_

"_Naw," the guy next to Shego laughed. "We're jus' makin' fun o' how pissed off her head she is. We all love Rolf Harris."_

_All of the other patrons rose their pints and cheered in response._

"_Come on, Rochelle," Kim soothed, kneeling down to rub Shego's back gently. "Calm down. Try to have a little fun."_

"_Can you at least think of another Australian song?" Shego sighed, burying her face in her hands. "_Tie Me Kangaroo Down _seems to be the only one anyone ever knows."_

_Kim stood up and thought about it a moment. The other patrons watched with bated breath as Kim silently considered her options. Suddenly, she smiled brightly and began to sing again._

"_I know just how to whisper," Kim sang, raising her pint gently. "And I know just how to cry. I know just where to find the answers. And I know just how to lie. I know just how to fake it. And I know just how to scheme. I know just when to face the truth. And then I know just when to dream."_

_Shego's eyes went wide on that one. "Air Supply?"_

"_They're from Melbourne," Kim replied wickedly._

"_Oh, gawd!" Shego cried before ramming her face into the bar counter._

_Oblivious to the act, Kim and the other patrons continued to sing the song, _Making Love Out Of Nothing At All_._

* * *

"I didn't embarrass you," Kim laughed as she playfully whipped her hair in the wind of the convertible just the way she knew Shego liked it. "You embarrassed yourself. Me and the blokes had fun that night."

"You and the...?" Shego started to ask, looking at her blindfolded girlfriend queerly. "Oh, geez!"

Kim laughed delightedly at Shego's reaction. "At least you had fun at Easter, though."

Shego snorted as she thought back to Easter. "That, my love, was indeed a riot."

* * *

"_So, let me get this straight," Master Sensei said as he considered the group of people in front of him. "An usagi hengeyokai spirit travels the entire world in a single day once per year, hiding colorfully painted eggs for children to search and find? And this is in celebration of the Spring and fertility?"_

_Shego grinned playfully as she considered the old Japanese man in traditional monk robes. Kim sat next to her, carefully gauging Shego's act. "Come on, Master Sensei. You of all people should know how differently the spirit world works compared to our world."_

"_Indeed," Master Sensei replied thoughtfully, caressing his full, deep beard with one hand. "So, in order to celebrate this spirit's gifts, we must search our grounds diligently for these eggs?"_

"_Right," Kim added, squeezing Shego's hand knowingly. "Each of us takes a basket and tries to fill it before anyone else fills theirs."_

"_So, it is a contest of perception, speed, and diligence?" Master Sensei asked, suddenly intrigued._

"_Yes, Sensei-sama," replied Yori, who sat between Kim and her boyfriend, Ron Stoppable. "It is my honor to confirm Kim-san and Shego-san's story. It is indeed how Americans celebrate their Spring holiday."_

"_Hmmm," Master Sensei hummed softly. "And all of this time, I had led myself to believe that Easter was in celebration of the resurrection of the Western culture messiah, Jesus of Nazareth."_

"_Bah, Passover is far more important than that!" Ron stated, earning him a soft smack on the back of his head from Yori._

"_Well then," Shego said, standing up and holding up four colorful baskets. "The person with the least eggs gets to do the dishes for the rest of the week."_

"_You're on!" Kim smirked, standing up and taking a basket._

"_It is my honor to accept your challenge, Shego-san," Yori laughed, standing up and taking a basket._

"_Might as well count me in, even though I'm pretty much hosed," Ron mumbled, standing up half-heartedly and dusting off his pants._

_All three girls took off running, giggling and laughing as they began to dive into bushes, duck behind fountains, and leap from rooftops._

_Ron watched as the girls went about their play. "You know, the smart man would accept the fact that I'm going to wash those dishes, no matter what I tried. So why even try to look for those eggs."_

_Master Sensei rose a brow to that. "Indeed?"_

_Ron suddenly got a look of grim determination on his face. "But I'm not a smart man. I'm a hero. And a hero does his best, no matter the odds. Look out eggs! Here I come!"_

_Master Sensei couldn't help but smile knowingly underneath his beard._

_The hunt carried on for almost an hour. Kim, Shego, and Yori laughed, joked, and taunted with each other the entire time. Kim and Shego, true to form, spent the entire time attempting to one-up each other, each stealing a find from under the other's nose. Yori would often take advantage of the other two's distractions and steal a find from under the other two's noses. Yori would then taunt the other two; this only fueled their mutual determination to one-up Yori. The battle of wits carried on until the three felt they had found every egg that was hidden on the Yamanouchi grounds._

_Kim, Shego, and Yori walked back to the garden, each carrying a basket filled with eggs. Each was laughing and carrying on about their superiority over the others._

"_I got twenty-three eggs," Kim said, smiling impishly. "What did you get, Angel?"_

_Shego did a quick count of her eggs. "Twenty-five."_

"_Twenty-five?" Kim asked incredulously. She started to reach for Shego's basket. "Are you sure?"_

_Shego growled playfully and swatted Kim's hand away. "Nuh-uh! No touching the merchandise! Yes, I'm sure. Twenty-five. I beat you by two, Pumpkin. Face it."_

"_I only found twenty," Yori sighed. "My only hope is in Ron-kun now."_

_As the three women approached the garden, they found Ron standing next to Master Sensei. The girls had to stop in unison, gawking at the site._

_Ron's basket was filled beyond capacity, the eggs within rising like a mound above the brim of the basket. Ron couldn't help but cock a goofy grin._

"_Stoppable?" Shego breathed incredulously, pointing first at the basket then to Ron then back to the basket. "How...?"_

"_Yeah, Ron!" Kim said in a bit more of an accusatory tone. "Just how did you get that many eggs in such a short time."_

"_One should never underestimate the potential of one who eschews the mantle of a smart man and dons the mantle of a hero," Master Sensei said proudly._

"_Okay," Shego sighed, closing her eyes and shaking a finger at Master Sensei. "I'm not even going to try to explain the insult you just hid in that comment."_

"_Where did you look where we did not, Ron-kun?" Yori asked, looking at Ron with pleading eyes._

_Ron smiled proudly. "The one place you three never bothered to think of looking."_

_All three sported risen brows at this point. Kim spoke first. "And... just where was this place?"_

"_After you explained the concept of the Easter celebration to me," Master Sensei said. "I chose to color eggs of my own to hide. Ron-chan found those eggs... in a basket sitting in my lap."_

_Three feminine jaws dropped so low that one could only imagine the crashing sound of them proverbially hitting the floor._

"_That's... cheating!" Shego finally yelled, pointing at Ron._

"_Like you're one to judge, Shego," Ron huffed._

"_In most things, you'd be right there, Sidekick," Shego growled. "But I played this particular contest fair and square."_

"_I think I understand now why you cheated in all of our fights," Kim mumbled._

"_I know, right?" Shego turned, agreeing with Kim. "Wait, what? No! I never cheated during our fights! I always won those fair and square."_

_As Kim and Shego verbally sparred, Ron walked up to Yori. "How many did you find, love?"_

_Yori sighed and looked down at her basket. "I found only twenty, I am afraid."_

_Ron gently placed a finger on Yori's lips, gave her a soft hushing sound, and handed her his basket. "No, you didn't, Yori. You found sixty-eight."_

_Kim and Shego stopped dead cold in their verbal sparring match. "Wait, what?" they both gasped in unison._

"_Yeah, Yori found forty-eight more in my hand, just like I'd found those forty-eight in Master Sensei's lap," Ron explained, folding his arms in front of him. "Ultimately, I've found none. I'm the one who'll have to do the dishes this week."_

_Yori stood there for a moment, her lips trembling, as tears started welling up in her eyes. Finally, she dropped both baskets and leapt onto Ron with a tremendous hug. "Ron-kun! It is my honor to call you my hero!"_

"_Wow, Sidekick," Shego said, nodding appreciatively. "Way to man up for your girlfriend."_

"_That was very romantic," Kim agreed._

"_Indeed," Master Sensei added. "Great things come to he who eschews the mantle of the smart man and dons the mantle of the hero."_

_Shego rose a brow to Master Sensei. "Stoppable was the first one to make that analogy, wasn't he?"_

"_Indeed he was," Master Sensei replied thoughtfully._

"_Doesn't surprise me," Shego chuckled, earning a playful slap in the shoulder from her girlfriend._

_Meanwhile, no one noticed how Yori had pulled Ron into a deep, loving kiss._

* * *

"And now we have Mother's Day coming up," Kim said, smiling as they drove along the now mountain road.

"We're going to decide which mother we're going to visit," Shego agreed, a bit more somberly than Kim's excited tone.

"Nonsense," Kim huffed, despite still sporting a smile. "I'll pull in a favor and get my mom out to Honolulu. We'll make it a girl's day out between us, including a good long visit with your mother."

Shego smiled softly to Kim. "You have a solution for everything, don't you?"

"I had a solution for us, despite Christmas, right?" Kim cooed softly, leaning into Shego.

"You sure did," Shego agreed. "Despite my stupidity. Thank you for believing in me, Princess."

"Always and forever," Kim whispered softly, nibbling lightly on Shego's earlobe. "Always and forever."

"Gyah!" Shego gasped, swatting Kim away. "Not while I'm driving! What are you doing? Getting us killed?"

Kim scooted back and grinned evilly, an effect made even more intense due to the blindfold she was wearing. "I... I just died in your arms tonight," Kim sang playfully. "It must've been something you said."

Shego couldn't help but bust up laughing at that. "Oh, my God, Kimmie! What did I ever do before you?"

"Listen do a blue dolt with no life whose book smarts vastly outstripped his common sense," Kim fired back without missing a beat.

"I am so glad _those_ days are over," Shego said, shaking her head.

"Hey! I remember this road," Kim suddenly noted, lifting up the blindfold and looking out her window at the landscape beyond.

"Kimmie! You weren't supposed to see!" Shego gasped. "See if I trust you again in the future."

Kim blinked and shoved the blindfold back into place. "I'm sorry. My curiosity overrode my common sense again. I..."

"It's okay, Princess," Shego sighed, managing a soft smile as she reached over with one hand and untied the blindfold. "You were going to see it anyway. I was just hoping to see your face once we got to the cabin."

"How...?" Kim began to ask, turning back to Shego as the blindfold fell into her hands in her lap.

"Let's just say I have connections of my own," Shego grinned. "And I don't need a Poindexter webmaster to keep track of them."

"Hmmph!" Kim huffed playfully, as she folded her arms and looked back out the window.

A short time after that, Shego pulled up to a log cabin. In front of the cabin was a minivan. By the minivan was a Latin man and a black jaguar on a leash.

Shego got out of the convertible and approached the man. "Hector Delgado!"

The man smiled in return as Shego approached him. He extended a hand to Shego, who quickly took it and shook it affectionately. "Rochelle Godeaux! A pleasure finally seeing you again after... what? Six? Seven years?"

Kim jumped out of the convertible and approached the two. "You two... know each other?"

"Miss Godeaux have a past together that I am quite sure neither of us wish to revisit," Delgado explained. "Let's just say we are both exes of our respective fields of study."

Kim decided at that point to not press the matter further.

"I appreciate you pulling through for me, Hector," Shego said, stepping back to carefully consider the man and his pet.

The jaguar growled softly at Shego until Kim approached it. It then quit its growling and snuggled up to Kim as she knelt down next to it.

"Hey, there, Sheba," Kim smiled, petting the great cat affectionately. "I see you remember me and how I saved you from the big, bad police."

"Sheba?" Shego asked, looking at Delgado queerly.

"Her full name is the Beautiful and Exalted Queen of Sheba," Delgado explained. "But everyone just calls her Sheba."

"It's a beautiful cat," Shego admitted. "Sleek fur, well-toned muscles, gorgeous eyes..."

"Reminds me of someone else I know," Kim agreed, looking into the cat's eyes. "You're just jealous she might outstrip you in that department, aren't you, sweetie."

Sheba roared knowingly to Kim's inquiry.

"Um, right," Shego said, scratching her head.

"Well, as we agreed," Delgado smiled, handing Shego the keys. "A week here at the cabin in exchange for a favor to be named in the future."

Kim glanced up at Shego incredulously.

"Oh, don't worry your pretty little head off, Pumpkin," Shego laughed, snatching the keys from Delgado's hands. "Hector and I are out of the game. If he ever calls in the favor, I'm sure it'll be something like protecting him from some element of our past that he's trying to leave behind."

"Of course," Delgado smiled smoothly. "Well, you ladies please enjoy the beauty and tranquility for which I bought this property."

"Of course we will," Kim assured the man.

With that, Delgado opened the side door of the minivan. "Your Majesty, come. We're leaving."

Sheba responded by skipping over to the minivan and gracefully leaping into one of the seats inside. Soon enough, Delgado himself was behind the wheel and pulling out.

"Well, Kimmie," Shego said, turning to the front door. "Here we are."

"Where it all began," Kim breathed, stepping up to Shego and lacing her fingers with her girlfriend's.

"Where it all began," Shego agreed.

"Would you have believed, that night eight months ago, that we'd be here, feeling the way that we feel?" Kim asked, looking up at the slightly older woman.

Shego shook her head. "I knew we were entertaining ideas," she said, still looking at the cabin door. "But I never thought it would have developed so quickly... and so completely."

"Me neither," Kim sighed, squeezing Shego's hand lovingly as she turned back to the cabin door.

Suddenly, Shego scrunched up her face and used her free hand to swipe at her nose. "What in the...?"

Kim looked at Shego curiously before she suddenly jerked her head back, squinting her right eye violently.

Both women looked up at the darkening clouds above them as Kim held up her free hand flat. They both began laughing as they realized what was going on.

"It's starting to rain," Shego snorted.

"Let's get the top up and the bags inside," Kim laughed, releasing Shego's hand and heading for the trunk of the convertible. "Before I have to lend you another nightgown."

Shego laughed at the memory as she jumped into the car and raised the top.

* * *

Shego sat on the bear skin rug in front of the fireplace, using the poker to stoke the fire. Outside, the rainstorm roared ferociously, occasionally broken up by a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder. Shego was wearing the black Tacnayn nightgown that she had worn eight months prior in the very same cabin. She was sitting slightly askew, her legs bent slightly so as to show off everything below mid-thigh. Kim approached Shego and handed her a steaming mug of Coco-Moo. Kim was dressed in a similar nightgown, except that it was violet with a gothic-punk Hello Kitty on the front.

Shego took a moment to appreciate Kim's legs as the younger woman sat down on the rug. "What is this? The third? Fourth mug now?"

"Fourth," Kim agreed. "Although I only spiked the first two."

"Hmmm," Shego hummed, taking a sip from her mug before setting it aside. "Well, I'm still feeling pretty good."

Kim set her own mug aside before stretching out and resting her head on Shego's lap. "I was feeling pretty good before we even walked into the cabin."

"Oh, really?" Shego said, reaching down to absently play with Kim's hair.

"You're not drunk, are you?" Kim asked, just as absently using her fingers to stroke Shego's arm.

"Kimmie, it's going to take a lot more than two Coco-Moo with Bailey's to give me a good buzz, let alone make me drunk."

"Good," Kim said, leaning up slightly. "That makes what I'm about to do a lot easier on my conscience."

With that, Kim reached up and gently brought Shego's lips down to hers. The two women kissed passionately for several minutes before they finally broke the kiss and stared deeply into each other's eyes.

"Kimmie," Shego breathed, obviously stunned by the emotion in the kiss, "why would you feel bad about giving me a kiss like that while I'm drunk?"

"It's not the kiss itself that I'm talking about," Kim whispered, running her fingers across Shego's cheeks and down her neck. "It's what comes with the kiss."

"Kimmie," Shego breathed again before Kim locked another kiss on Shego's lips.

The two women collapsed onto the bear skin rug, in front of the roaring fireplace, with the thunderstorm roaring outside, and explored their options throughout the course of that night.

* * *

"Mom! Over here!" Kim cried, waving her hand.

Dr. Anne Possible stepped out into the airport and looked around for the source of the voice. Seeing Kim waving her hands frantically, the older redhead smiled and walked towards her daughter... and her girlfriend.

"Welcome to Honolulu, Anne," Shego smiled, watching Kim hug her mother before stepping in to give Anne a hug of her own. "And Happy Mother's Day."

"Thank you, Shelly," Anne smiled, looking at both her daughter and her daughter's lover. She felt comfortable thinking that. She could see the glow as the two looked at each other. They were _lovers _now, not just travel companions or girlfriends. It was _that _obvious.

And, somehow, Anne was not only comfortable with that fact, she was happy for her daughter for finally finding the happiness that had long been denied her.

"So, what's on the agenda today, ladies?" Anne said, clapping her hands together.

"Well, first we get you settled into your room, which is right next to ours," Kim gushed.

"You poor, poor soul," Shego mumbled under her breath, eliciting a playful nudge from Kim and a wry chuckle from Anne.

"Then we're grabbing some take-out from a _wonderful_ Polynesian restaurant that Shego turned me on to. We're taking that food and we're going to Queen's Medical Center and you're meeting Shego's mom. Janet is a such a wonderful woman."

"The woman who made me who I am today," Shego added. "Once I got past who I had become."

"We going to have a wonderful dinner with Janet," Kim continued. "Then the three of us are going dancing. We got exclusive invites to a party happening at a hotel by one of the most beautiful beaches. So, yeah, beach party. Hope you brought your bikini."

Anne smiled and ruffled Kim's hair. "Bring it. I guarantee I can still turn heads, even at my age."

"Good," Shego smiled. "Let's see how many hearts we can break tonight telling those poor saps that we're all taken."

With that, Kim, Shego, and Anne laughed and walked down the airport.

And towards what was probably going to be the best Mother's Day ever.

**[END STORMS OVER COLORADO, PART 2]**

**NOTE: **And there you have it. That wraps up the SOC Road Trip Series for now. If you're liked this story, you might enjoy my other KP stories as well. If you haven't already, go to my profile and try out the TSOD Universe stories (_The Specter of Death_, _Robots & Redemption_, _Wedding Elements_, and _The Shadow of Infinity_) plus my new Chrono Trigger crossover story, _Chrono Sitch_.


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